Birds in my highly urban Backyard in NYC, part 2
The first one of these reports was posted on 4th April, 2024.
We are now in mid to late June, and there are far fewer birds in my backyard.
I see occasional mourning doves and feral pigeons but basically no other birds. I am surprised because the white mulberry tree is currently heavily in fruit, and so I would expect to see a lot of robins and other fruit-loving birds.
I should ask my bird-loving iNat friends what they think is going on.
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Well, we've entered the mid-summer doldrums for birding. Too late for spring migrants, too early for fall ones. Nesting birds are off nesting, and we're left with whatever's left!
I think of highly-urban areas like where you live almost as ecological islands; if there's no one nesting nearby, it would take a lot of energy or luck for something to arrive this time of year, since June is when nesting is sapping all the energy a bird can muster. I can almost guarantee that if you were to drive to the nearest wildlife refuge, hiking area, or even a larger urban park, maybe with a lake, you'd see all sort of activity - nesting, raising young, juvies begging for food and testing out their wings...late June means high drama for birds in natural areas.
As for mulberry-loving species and other fruit-eaters, a lot of that activity occurs in migration, when birds are passing through; in the breeding season (i.e., now), they're eating mainly insects and feeding them to their young. Same goes for seed-feeders; a lot of folks will empty their bird feeders in spring, since all you get are the ubiquitous urban species who ought to be eating insects anyway. This pattern shifts in late summer, when young disperse and adults start exploring the late-summer fruit offerings. By the first week of August, fall migration will be happening, and I'd start looking (and listening) for earliest warblers and flycatchers (and buntings and vireos and everything else) to start drifting in.
Saw this on my feed and my Audubon reflexes kicked in - excuse the long-winded response! : )
Thank you Daniel! @dcoopercem
However, this afternoon my husband and I went a couple of miles north of here to the northeastern end of Central Park near the Harlem Meer, and the first thing I saw and photographed was a Northern Cardinal. Then in rapid succession we saw a Blue Jay, a Red-winged Blackbird, another Cardinal, a Robin and another Red-winged Blackbird.
There were also quite a lot of adult house sparrows feeding young ones who were begging, and a mother mallard with a string of babies.
OK, nothing rare or special, but a nice contrast to the backyard here right now, and it was nice to see several of the species that I had seen in the backyard back in April.
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