Kellie Quinones, Project Safe Flight

On a cold December morning I met up with Kellie Quinones in Central Park. This wasn't any ordinary day, though. Today was the 105th Christmas Bird Count. We all gathered in on the south side of the Reservoir to divide into teams so we could roam the park in search of birds. As the different park sections were called out, no one came forward to lead the North Woods team, which is where Kellie and I decided we wanted to go. After a short pause, though, Kellie came forward and with a very commanding voice said: "I'll do it."

It turns out Kellie is used to stepping forward and taking on new tasks. The same thing happened when she decided to join Project Safe Flight (PSF) in the spring of 2003 - a rescue program for migratory birds in New York City started by Rebekah Creshkoff in 1997. Her interest in birds started a few years earlier, during her lunch breaks at the 59th St. Pond in Central Park. It is there that she saw Black-crowned Night herons for the first time. She bought a pair of binoculars and then joined NYC Audubon. As a volunteer with NYC Audubon, Kellie became a member of the Field Trip Committee.

The first spring season with PSF was very demanding. Each day Kellie would wake up at 4:45am and arrive at the World Financial Center at 5:30am to look for dead and injured birds. Once she was done at 8:00am she would go to her regular day job. What made her want to do this, I asked her. "I needed to do something to make sure the birds made it safely through the City." The reason many migratory birds found themselves in the City in the first place has to do with the fact that New York City is situated on a major flight path. The lights from high-rise buildings also do their part in attracting many of the birds that migrate at night. While the City's parks offer a good place for the birds to refuel and rest, the images reflected in the buildings' large windows confuse the birds and cause them to collide with the windows.

Since the beginning of PSF, about 3,500 dead birds have been collected. This number represents a small fraction of the overall number which is estimated at over 100 million each year in North America alone. But not all birds are found dead. Of the 149 birds Kellie found in here first spring, 55 were alive. "It's a great feeling to release a bird and see it fly away," Kellie said with a big smile. She said that the next step for PSF was to start "getting the word out about glass" and letting people know what they can do, both in the City and in the suburbs in order to reduce bird collisions. Kellie is still involved in PSF, and being "a foot soldier," she still wakes up early to collect the birds.

For more information how to get involved in PSF during this spring season visit our website at www.nycaudubon.org.