NYC Audubon

As we begin to wrap up 2020 and get ourselves ready for a fresh start to the New Year, NYC Audubon has a new look! To close out our 40th anniversary year, we have reinvigorated our logo and style to better reflect all the habitat we protect and create in New York City. Our founding members began by opposing a destructive restoration plan of the Central Park Ramble in 1979and in the ensuing decades, we’ve worked to protect open land around Jamaica Bay, grassland habitat in... Brooklyn’s Floyd Bennett Field, and the wild Harbor Heron islands. Today we’re spurring the creation of green roofs in all five boroughs and studying their importance as habitat. Executed by the talented team at reitdesign, our refreshed logo offers a view into a greener New York City, highlighting the City’s grassy and forested areas and incredible shorefrontwith our mascot, the American Kestrel, soaring above. We hope our new look encourages New Yorkers across the five boroughs to join us in exploring and conserving these precious and critical habitats. We also look forward to unveiling a completely redesigned nycaudubon.org that will improve visitors’ experience and match our new look. Be on the lookout for an announcement of a launch date in early 2021!

NYC Audubon's own Chris Cooper was a guest on Alabama Audubon's fantastic panel discussion on birding while Black in the South. Chris shares his experiences as a Black birder in the North and his concerns about traveling to the South as a Black man.

You can make a difference on this #GivingTuesday. The birds need you just as we all need nature. Help New York City's birds today: https://nycaudubon.z2systems.com///nycaudubon/donation.jsp

Did you miss Monday's virtual talk on the Laysan Albatross of Hawai'i with author and Kaua’i Albatross Network founder Hob Osterlund? No worries! We have uploaded Hob's fantastic lecture to our YouTube page for all to view. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lkhel1LSZXk&feature=youtu.be

Today is the last day to get tickets for our annual Fall Roost fundraiser! This year's festivities will be virtual, featuring our incredible silent auction, new videos, bird trivia, and a performance by Steve Martin! Tickets start at $50 to see the main program. Learn more and grab a ticket at: http://www.nycaudubon.org/fall-roost-2020 Ticket sales end at 11pm tonight!

Our Fall Roost Pre-Party Silent Auction and Sale is now live! Check out our fabulous selection of items up for bid to all today. Items include a portrait of a bird of your choice by Gabriel Willow, a "Connecticut Composition" print specially created for NYC Audubon by artist James Prosek, and more! In addition to our Silent Auction lots, there are a number of items you can purchase right now in our Instant Sale store, including puzzles, patches, and even bottles of wine! Some... are limited supply, so the early bird will get the worm! Check out our full catalog of Silent Auction and Instant Sale items here: http://nycbirds.givesmart.com/ Tickets are still available to join us at our virtual Fall Roost benefit fundraiser on October 6! Tickets start at $50 and can be purchased here: http://www.nycaudubon.org/fall-roost-2020

Learn how writer, ecologist, and birder Drew Lanham carries on his family’s legacy in this terrific animated short from StoryCorps! Growing up on his family farm in South Carolina, Drew loved to watch the birds that would visit. At StoryCorps, Drew remembers how he left that life behind, and then found his way back. storycor.ps/2GlDpN2

Join us virtually this year for the Fall Roost benefit fundraiser! It will be a fun-filled evening among bird lovers and supporters of bird conservation, featuring a brand new video, our stupendous silent auction, bird trivia, and a visit from Steve Martin! Our success at protecting wild birds and their habitat in New York City depends on your support of this annual event, as all proceeds help to underwrite our work. Tickets start at $50 for the Main Event Pass! Learn more and get a ticket here: http://www.nycaudubon.org/fall-roost-2020

Don't miss our virtual celebration of monarchs and other pollinators this Saturday, September 26th at 10am! You'll learn about moths, bees, birds, and even get to see a pollinator puppet show. Click to register for free!

Continuing further on the trails of Doodletown, Tom finds two Cerulean Warblers singing slightly different songs, and compares this much-sought-after species to similar-sounding warblers like the Blackburnian Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, and American Redstart.

As we move along the trails of Doodletown with Tom, we encounter the Worm-eating Warbler in duet with a Carolina Wren and later have the opportunity to compare the trill of the Worm-eating with that of the Chipping Sparrowa field challenge for many birders.

Tomorrow night we will once again be monitoring NYC’s Tribute in Light from dusk to dawn to ensure it is safe for night-migrating birds. This year's scaled-down team of NYC Audubon volunteers and staff will use extra safety precautions as we conduct a socially distanced monitoring event in partnership with National September 11 Memorial & Museum and Michael Ahern Production Services. The Tribute in Light is a stirring memorial to those lost on September 11, 2001, but it ca...n also be a hazard for hundreds of thousands of night-migrating birds. Birds are attracted to light, and in some years, thousands have become trapped in the Tribute’s powerful beams, circling, calling, and wasting precious body fat needed for their long migratory journeys. Thanks to a long-standing cooperative agreement with the Tribute's producers, the lights are turned off for a brief period when NYC Audubon monitors observe large numbers of trapped birds, allowing the birds to disperse. This year we're also providing guidance to partner monitoring teams at additional light-based memorials in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon, in Washington, D.C. Andrew Farnsworth, PhD, and his BirdCast team will be conducting research at these sites as well to see how the installations affect nighttime migration. Rest assured, all these installations have been on our radar and we have been hard at work to make sure the birds will be safe at all sites! We will provide updates on any significant developments that occur during tomorrow night’s NYC monitoring on our Twitter page. @nycaudubon #tributeinlight #urbanconservation #projectsafeflight #volunteers #communityscience #citizenscience See more

NYC Audubon is proud to announce the digital release of It's a Bird, a new short graphic novel written by NYC Audubon Board Member Chris Cooper and illustrated and produced by DC Comics. Inspired by Chris's experiences in Central Park, It's a Bird is an impressionistic depiction of a young Black Birder's encounter with racism, and a tribute to the many lives lost to racist violence and police brutality. It's a Bird, part of DC Comic's new series "Represent!" is available digitally for free at select digital platforms, including readdc.com, Comixology, Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and more. Read the announcement here: https://www.dccomics.com//dc-proudly-announces-represent-n

NYC Audubon Board Member Chris Cooper shares the joys and challenges of #BirdingWhileBlack in this terrific video by NOVA l PBS. Chris has worked tirelessly to make birding in NYC inclusive to all and expose kids in underserved areas to the wonders of birds through his Feathered Friends Afterschool Birding Club initiative. As Chris states so eloquently in the video, the birds belong to all of us!

In the next four installments, Tom takes us to birding mecca Doodletown, a section of Bear Mountain State Park in Rockland County. In this episode, we find the Hooded Warbler and study its song along with other Doodletown nesters like the Indigo Bunting and Cerulean Warbler.