LOCAL OBSERVATIONS: BIRD SYNOPSIS
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February 2002
My name is Emily Bradshaw. As a naturalist, I studied the Brooklyn waterfront from North 7th Street to Newtown Barge from 1995 to 2001. Over 1,250 hours were spent in observation. Specific areas of concentration included the inlet, the North 7th, 11th and 12th Street waterfront, the area off the Quay Street parking lot on the right side of the inlet, the India and Green Street piers, the American Manufacturing grounds and the path to the river next to the Greenpoint Terminal, and the public parks around Commercial-Dupont streets. During my walks, I made copious notes, which I later entered into a computerized log, and took hundreds of photos to supplement the notes. I was interested in both birds and flora. Particular attention was given to nesting birds, particularly those along North 11th Street.
Before I began my observations, I had been well traveled visiting birding "hot spots" in the United States, e.g. Everglades, Rocky Mountains, Texas, Acadia National Park, the area south of Tuscon. Once I began my walks along the Greenpoint waterfront and to the neglected pool section of McCarren Park, I felt no need to travel. The diversity of avian life in Greenpoint/Williamsburg more than met my needs until the destruction of the waterfront began in 1999.
In the area studied from North 7th Street to Newtown Barge, there were at least a dozen pairs of resident song sparrow and nesting barn swallows, a nesting pair of killdeer (perhaps two), pairs of resident mockingbirds, nesting catbirds, fish and American crows, redwings, robins, Canada geese, mallards, blue jays, black crowned night heron, herring gulls, and possibly spotted sandpiper. Kestrels visited the area frequently, particularly during migration, and there were splendid spring and fall migrations, as fine as I had seen along the Texas coast. Regular migrants included phoebes, kingbirds, and other flycatchers, a wide variety of warblers including palm, yellow-rumped, yellowthroat, and northern waterthrush, field, white-throated, and swamp sparrows, juncos, the marsh hawk, the peregrine falcon, flickers, scarlet tanager, thrushes, goldfinches, and kinglets.
Why was the waterfront so attractive to birds? I believe they were following the river, since birds are attracted to bodies of water. The shrubby vegetation was also an important factor. It offered food and shelter. The piers and the deserted factories provided plentiful nesting areas for the swallows. Certainly the lack of human traffic was also appealing to the birds, though they tolerated well occasional intrusions.
I had a couple of visits inside what I called "the forbidden area", (the fenced-in area between North 7th and North 11th streets), but all my work was conducted in public areas e.g. North 7th and North 11streets. I believe I was the only naturalist visiting the waterfront regularly.
At present, the destruction of the waterfront as a natural area is about complete. The shrubby area off North 11th Street where I spent hours watching nesting birds had been replaced by a Citistorage building, the vegetation along the river off North 12th Street which attracted migrating birds has been destroyed, the vegetation surrounding the West
Street lumberyard has been eliminated, the vast field from the Citistorage facility down to what I call the aspen grove across from North 8th Street is bare earth, and the Java Street pier where dozens of barn swallows nested has been removed. As a result, last summer the waterfront hosted only one nesting pair of barn swallows and three pairs of resident song sparrows. Two of the remaining three pairs of song sparrows—those residing around North 7th Street—will undoubtedly lose their homes when the NYU playing field is constructed. A redwing visited his former nesting area last spring several times, but did not remain. The killdeers did not return last year.
One bird friendly area that remains is the aspen grove across from North 8th Street which has been a nesting area for catbird, mockingbird, song sparrow, robin, and blue jay. The grove is an interesting area with sumac (the only one I've seen in Greenpoint). Black willow, both aspens, pussy willow, gray birch, black cherry, and mulberry. Insofar as the migrants following the river, the only useful areas remaining are the weedy fields off North 7th Street, the banks of the inlet, and the narrow waterfront area fronting Consolidated Freightways. (Birds, however, are adaptable. The good folks at the trucking firm allowed a weedy area in front of their facility to develop and I found last autumn two palm warblers, regulars along the riverfront in spring and fall, flitting around the vegetation.) formerly the migrants had available a long stretch of weedy terrain from North 7th Street to Quay Street along the river as well as a large fringe of vegetation around the former lumberyard at Newton Barge.
The birds have not only succumbed to the waterfront development but to the West Nile virus as well. Formerly we had at least four families of American crows along the riverfront and several other families residing around McCarren Park as well. I consider myself fortunate now to encounter a single American crow on my walk. The same fate has befallen the community's fish crows and blue jays, its close relatives. We have also lost our nesting American robins. House finches, which have been struck by a different ailment, are in short supply. I estimate we've lost 60% of our birds in Greenpoint since 1999.
Migrants are still coming through Greenpoint. We had a splendid spring migration season in the pool section of McCarren Park, though the autumn season was poor and I suspect the cause was the virus. West Nile has moved quickly south to Florida, north to Canada, and west to Ohio.
Plans are underway for the construction of the New York University playing field. Such construction will undoubtedly destroy the weedy areas around North 7th Street which provided food and shelter for migrating and resident birds. The fate of the inlet is uncertain—neither control by the community or control by the power company guarantees the area will be hospitable to birds. The question I raise at this crucial time is whether the community wishes to provide some type of refuge for birds living and migrating along the Greenpoint Williamsburg watefront. If the answer is in the affirmative, then immediate action by the community is required before the area along North 7th Street is razed. First step, I think, would be consultation from an expert at the Jamaica refuge in Broad Channel or a similar organization who could provide some direction and would not be seeking the eventual work contract.
Attachments to this statement include a listing of birds I have sighted along the Greenpoint Williamsburg Waterfront and a selection of photographs intended to illustrate the past diversity of its avian residents and visitors.
BIRDS SIGHTED ALONG the GREENPOINT/WILLIAMSBURG WATERFRONT
Family Podicipedae — Grebes
Pied-billed Grebe (winter resident for several seasons)
Horned Grebe (two sightings in winter)
Family Phalacrocoracidae &mdash Cormorants
Double-crested Cormorant (resident, nesting species)
Family Ardeidae &mdash Bitterns, Herons, and Allies
Great Blue Heron (occasional visitor, probably nests in New York Harbor)
Great Egret (visitor from New York Harbor)
Snowy Egret (visitor from New York Harbor)
Green Heron (migrant)
Black-crowned Night-Heron (nests along Greenpoint waterfront)
Family Anatidae &mdash Geese, Swans, and Ducks
Canada Goose (nesting species, flocks of 15 or so not uncommon)
Brant (one solitary Brant spent a winter at inlet, since then, seen regularly during migration
Tundra Swan (around the inlet off and on in January one year)
Gadwall (common winter resident in flock of a dozen or so)
American Black Duck (seen year around, possible nesting species
Mallard (seen year around, nesting species)
Northern Shoveler (one sighting)
Canvasback (winter resident)
Bufflehead (winter resident)
Red-breasted Merganser (common visitor)
Ruddy Duck (winter resident, often in flock of 35 or more)
Family Accipitridae &mdash Kites, Eagles, Hawks, and Allies
Northern Harrier (sighted two different autumns at about the same time working the waterfront)
Red-tailed Hawk (two autumn sightings )
Family Falconidae &mdash Caracaras and Falcons
American Kestrel (frequent visitor during migration)
Peregrine Falcon (occasional but regular visitor to waterfront, probably from Manhattan)
Family Rallidae &mdash Rails, Gallinules, and Coots
American Coot (winter resident for three years at the inlet)
Family Charadridae &mdash Plovers and Lapwings
Killdeer (at least one pair nested along the riverfront until 2001)
Family Scolopacidae &mdash Sandpipers, Phaloropes, and Allies
Spotted Sandpiper (seen a couple of times each season, reasonably sure it nested at the inlet one season)
Family Laridae &mdash Skuas, Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers
Laughing Gull (common summer visitor)
Ring-billed Gull (common winter resident, often in the hundreds)
Herring Gull (resident, pair has nested along river)
Great Black-backed Gull (resident, pair nests along river, I believe)
Family Columbidae &mdash Pigeons and Doves
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove (dozens nest along the river)
Family Alcedinidae &mdash Kingfishers
Belted Kingfisher (migrant seen a few times)
Family Picidae &mdash Woodpeckers and Allies
Downy Woodpecker (seen in aspen grove and American Manufacturing lot)
Northern Flicker (migrant seen in abundance)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (seen around American Playground)
Family Tyrannidae &mdash Tyrant Flycatchers
Alder or Willow Flycatcher (not sure which, occasional migrant)
Eastern Phoebe (frequently seen migrant)
Eastern Kingbird (common migrant)
Family Corvidae &mdash Jays, Magpies, and Crows
Blue Jay (more common in Greenpoint, possible nester in aspen grove)
American Crow (common resident)
Fish Crow (seen often along the waterfront, family seen regularly around Huron Street pier)
Family Hirundinidae &mdash Swallows
Barn Swallow (nesting species, formerly seen in good numbers)
Family Paridae &mdash Chickadees and Titmice
Black-capped Chickadee (occasional visitor)
Family Troglodytidae &mdashWrens
Marsh Wren (heard one in spring)
Family Regulidae &mdash Kinglets
Golden-crowned Kinglet (frequent migrant)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (frequent migrant)
Family Turidae &mdash Thrushes
Swainson' Thrush (one sighting in Greenpoint Park)
American Robin (formerly nested around Greenpoint Park and the aspen grove)
Family Mimidae &mdash Mockingbirds, Thrashers, and Allies
Gray Catbird (nested several years in aspen grove)
Northern Mockingbird (two nesting pairs divided up the area from North 11th Street to North 8th Street, North 11th Street pair driven out and now occupying North 11th Street between Kent and Berry
Family Sturnidae &mdash Starlings and Allies
European Starling (resident, numbers have declined)
Family Parnulidae &mdash Wood Warblers
Yellow Warbler (common migrant)
Chestnut-sided Warbler (seen in American Playground)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (abundant autumn migrant)
Palm Warbler (spring and autumn migrant, in good numbers)
American Redstart (uncommon migrant)
Northern Waterthrush (migrant seen during 2 springs)
Common Yellowthroat (common migrant, suspected it nested along the river could but not prove)
Family Thraupidae &mdash Tanagers
Scarlet Tanager (one spring sighting in Greenpoint Park)
Family Emberizidae &mdash New World Sparrows
Eastern Towhee (common migrant, could nest)
Field Sparrow (migrant, possible winter resident)
Song Sparrow (resident, formerly at least 10 pairs from North 7th to North 11th Street, 1 pair off Quay Street, several pairs in Newton Barge area)
Swamp Sparrow (spring migrant, attempted to nest but area cleared by Citistorage before it could do so)
White-throated Sparrow (common migrant, sometimes abundant)
Dark-eyed Junco (common migrant, sometimes abundant)
Family Cardinalidae &mdash Grosbeaks and Buntings
Northern Cardinal (frequent visitor to American Manufacturing grounds, perhaps nested there)
Family Icteridae &mdash Icterines
Red-winged Blackbird (migrant, at least one nesting male each season)
Common Grackle (spring migrant)
Baltimore Oriole (hung out for a week around West Street two seasons ago)
Family Fringillidae &mdash Fringilline and Cardueline Finches
House Finch (common visitor)
American Goldfinch (migrant seen at the foot of North 11th Street, also several autumns off
Quay Street
Family Passeridae &mdash Old World Sparrows
House Sparrow (resident)
