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A Small Park That Has What Birds Need
NYC’s landscapes are more diverse than you might think!
© J.M. Shum
Washington Square Park in Manhattan is just 10 acres. But Georgia Silvera Seamans, who leads wildlife surveys there, says there’s a spot that draws in many birds because of its well-developed forest canopy. Georgia is the director of an organization called Washington Square Park Eco Projects that provides environmental education and advocates for the ecological value of the park. She collects stories from city dwellers about their experiences with birds on her podcast, Your Bird Story.
BirdNote®
A Small Park That Has What Birds Need
Written by Conor Gearin
This is BirdNote.
[ambi: light traffic/city sounds]
[Ruby-crowned Kinglet song, ML 136164, 0:12-0:14]
Washington Square Park in Manhattan is just 10 acres, which might sound too small to have much variety. But Georgia Silvera Seamans leads wildlife surveys there. She says there’s a densely forested spot that draws in many birds.
Georgia Silvera Seamans: We’ve just come to know through year after year of being in the park, the northwest side of the park has those clear forest layers, and that’s where we see the most diversity in terms of number of species. Because there’s a layer for every bird that’s going to stop over in the park. So we get a ton of warblers because we have more oaks there.
She often sees Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers seeking out the large trees, and Ruby-crowned Kinglets snapping up insects on the spruces.
[Ruby-crowned Kinglet song, ML 136164, 0:39-0:41]
Georgia, who’s an urban forester by training, sees the connection between the city’s trees and its birds firsthand. She’s the director of an organization called Washington Square Park Eco Projects that provides environmental education and advocates for the ecological value of the park.
Georgia Silvera Seamans: New York City is not only people-diverse, it’s landscape-diverse, and so you can find wonder and magic throughout New York City. And that’s something to celebrate.
Georgia collects stories from city dwellers about their experiences with birds on her podcast, Your Bird Story. Find a link on our website, BirdNote dot org. I’m Conor Gearin.
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Senior Producer: John Kessler
Content Director: Allison Wilson
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Ruby-crowned Kinglet ML 136164 recorded by M. Medler.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2022 BirdNote April 2022 Narrator: Conor Gearin
ID# seamansg-01-2022-04-22 seamansg-01
References: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26984209
