Alexandra Wang, M.S. Ed, Accessibility Tours Leader | December 12, 2024

NYC Bird Alliance accessible birding tours leader Alexandra Wang shares how she is making her outings welcoming to New Yorkers of all abilities and shares touching stories from participants about their experiences. Through innovative approaches like bird plushies and tailored tour experiences, Alexandra is opening up the magic of birding to ALL New Yorkers.

The holiday season is here and NYC Bird Alliance has gathered 15 of the best gifts around for bird lovers! Whether you’re shopping for beginner birders, field note enthusiasts, bookworms, or Flaco fans, we have great options for you and yours.

Happy holidays and happy birding! 

Suzanne Charlé, Publications Committee Member | October 24, 2024

From abstract spectrograms of robin songs crafted in glass to towering falcons performing mudras, the Audubon Mural Project—now 10 years old—continues spreading its wings to new forms, artists, and boroughs. Learn about the spectacular street art project highlighting the birds threatened by climate change through an ever-expanding collection of public murals. 

Jesse McLaughlin, Senior Associate, Advocacy | October 8, 2024 

Why does our city get so hot? The Green Roof Tax Abatement is a solution not just for climate change, but for environmental justice.

Katherine Chen, Senior Manager of Community Science & Collision Reduction | October 8, 2024  

Since 2002, NYC Bird Alliance has partnered with the September 11 Memorial & Museum to ensure that the annual Tribute in Light can honor lives while also keeping birds safe. As with every year, in 2024 our scientists monitored the Tribute from sunset to sunrise, shutting off the lights three times to ensure safe passage for migrating birds.

We had an amazing night at NYC Bird Alliance’s annual Fall Roost gala at Tavern on the Green! It was inspiring to bring together conservationists, bird lovers, and community leaders in celebration of our shared mission. Read our recap for highlights and photos from a memorable evening in Central Park. 

Hillarie O'Toole | August 7, 2024

The numbers tell a grim story: over one billion birds die each year in the US due to building collisions. But it is through individual stories that we can begin to understand the “butterfly” effect that the loss of just one bird can have on the ecological community. Just one White-throated Sparrow's death has an effect on the environment.

Kellye Rosenheim | September 16, 2024

Yellow-Crowned Night Herons can be found in every borough and are important indicators of the health of New York Harbor.

Carol Peace Robins | September 16, 2024

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) provides affordable housing to nearly 12% of all City residents. NYC Bird Alliance, in partnership with the Public Housing Community Fund, has started a pilot program to engage these residents.

The NYC Bird Alliance community is deeply saddened by the loss of longtime member, supporter, and friend Lenore Swenson, who passed away on June 18, 2024. 

Andrew Maas, Director of Marketing and Communications | August 7, 2024
A groundbreaking research study published in PLOS ONE today has uncovered alarming new evidence that building collisions are killing significantly more birds than previously estimated—well over one billion annually in the United States alone.

Andrew Maas, Director of Marketing and Communications | June 21, 2024

As I sit at my desk during a work-from-home day, I hear the unmistakable call—"klee klee klee!" 

Olivia Liang | June 21, 2024

While some see New York as a collection of skyscrapers and concrete, in truth it is a biodiversity hotspot with growing, vital green space.

Mike Yuan, NYC Bird Alliance Board President | June 21, 2024

As I embark on my term as president of the board of directors, I think back on the organization’s presence in my life for the past 15 years.

Linda Ewing | June 21, 2024

Birds may be everywhere, but birders are not. An uneven distribution of bird observations underlies what Brooklyn birder Nick Dawson is calling his “little year.”

Carol Peace Robins | June 21, 2024

British naturalist Stephen Moss’s 10 Birds that Changed the World doesn’t assert that the birds themselves actually changed the world. Rather, it depicts how human interaction with them changed the course of history—often to the pronounced detriment of the birds.

NYC Bird Alliance and Riverside Park Conservancy | April 8, 2024

In March 2024, Riverside Park Conservancy completed a bird-friendly retrofit of their Peter Jay Sharp Volunteer House, in partnership with a NYC Bird Alliance consultation.

Karen Benfield, NYC Bird Alliance Board President | March 6, 2024 

With spring comes growth and renewal in our City’s green spaces. As I wind down my four-year term as president, I am awed by the growth and renewal inside our organization as well, and I step down fulfilled by the privilege of being part of such magnificent expansion of urban conservation.

Sara Kross, PhD, Katherine Chen (NYC Bird Alliance Community Science and Outreach Manager), and Benjamin Van Doren, PhD | March 6, 2024 

Migration is a particularly dangerous journey, and it’s estimated that collisions with windows kill up to one billion birds across North America annually. NYC Bird Alliance scientists and partners have focused on this problem for decades. Now, new research on weather’s impact can make solutions more effective.

Don Riepe | March 6, 2024 

For most of my life, I lived happily at Broad Channel, Queens, with the birds outside. Until 15 years ago, when the birds started coming inside. As I sat on my dock in 2009 looking out at Jamaica Bay, a beautiful white Great Egret landed at my house and soon, my new friend Egor the egret would stop by nearly every day for a snack. 

Carol Peace Robins | March 5, 2024 

The 124th Annual Christmas Bird Count, which took place on December 17, 2023, was a historic one for NYC Bird Alliance. Not only did we have a record 400 registered volunteer counters, but for the first time in the Count's history, a green roof was included in the festivities. Carol Peace Robins recounts the historic day at Hudson Yards. 

Up to a quarter million birds die annually from crashing into New York City’s buildings due to light pollution and reflective or clear glass. A new study in the Journal of Applied Ecology found that weather forecasts and bird migration intensity data can be used together to predict the days of greatest bird collision risk in New York City. 

NYC Bird Alliance will soon choose a new name that is inclusive and represents our focus on bird conservation. We have some exciting news to share with the public about the process! We're down to five possible name choices. 

Olivia Liang | January 8, 2024

NYC Bird Alliance’s annual Harbor Herons Nesting Survey has monitored and protected these birds since 1982. To get a behind-the-scenes look at this year’s data collection, NYC Bird Alliance sat down with Tod Winston, our Urban Biodiversity Specialist and creator of the 2023 State of the Harbor Herons, and Dr. Shannon Curley, PhD, our Harbor Herons Nesting Survey Coordinator.

Olivia Liang | December 4, 2023

Winston Qin is a gifted photographer, an aspiring engineer, a lifelong bird enthusiast, a Project Safe Flight volunteer… and a high school senior. Meet this exceptional teenager devoted to protecting our City’s wild birds.