Dear PSF volunteers and friends,
Since its creation in 1997 by
Rebekah Creshkoff, Project Safe Flight (PSF) – NYC Audubon’s
program dedicated to making the city safer for migratory birds – has
emphasized the importance of collecting accurate data on bird collisions. In
recent years, our citizen science efforts focused on documenting the time and
location of these collisions.
On Saturday, September 9th,
PSF launched its most ambitious research effort yet – a comprehensive
study aimed at quantifying the magnitude of the bird collision problem in our
city as well as identifying the main factors involved in such collisions. Dr.
Daniel Klem, a national authority on the bird collision topic, has been
selected to lead this study. The study, funded by a grant from US Fish and
Wildlife Service with matching funds from Port Authority, Silverstein
Properties, and NYC Audubon members, relies on local citizen scientists to
monitor close to 80 different sites in Manhattan over the course of two migration
seasons. There are over 20 volunteers involved in the monitoring effort, several
of which are new to the project.
The study was off to a successful
start with all 224 slots filled instantly by an army of devoted volunteers
– four routes in total, covered seven days a week for a total period of
two months.
Below is a graph of the results so far for the month of September. The numbers
show this to be an active migration month totaling over 70 birds in the various
locations we monitor, suggesting that birds are coming through in good numbers
already.
Morgan Mail stands out with a total of 31 birds, followed by the MET (18) and
the World Financial Center (12).
Another problematic location that appears on this graph is the Jacob Javits Center,
a building that wasn’t initially included in our study for this season
but was later added due to the large volunteer participation.
We still have some slots open, so please contact me if you wish to help in this
exciting season of PSF monitoring.
ndelacretaz@nycaudubon.org or 212 691 7483.
Enjoy the nice NYC fall and don’t forget to go out birding.
You’ll hear from me again next week,
Take care,
Nicole
Photo of a juvenile rose-breasted Grosbeak by Cal Vornberger
Three of them were found at Morgan Mail in the past two weeks.
__________________________________
Nicole Delacrétaz
