What's in Flight
December, 2020
Carl Schurz Park just pipped Central Park for one of the most exciting, rare bird sightings of the fall/winter season. What birders call a ‘lifer’ because these birds are so rarely seen in these parts.
Western Tanager
Gig Palileo
Our new resident is a beautiful Western Tanager. Up close it looks a little bit like the Loony Toons cartoon bird Tweety with its orangey-pink bill and fluffy yellow plumage. It is around six-to-seven inches tall and has dark wings with two wingbars.
Western Tanager
Jay Zemann
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Western Tanager Male (spring plumage)
Jerry McFarland
It was spotted first by local birder Jay Zemann on December 11, in a Siberian Elm tree at the East side of the 86th Street entrance. Since then it has been spotted multiple times by other birders including Ed Gaillard, who saw it sipping sap on the Siberian Elm to the right of the entrance to the Catbird Playground. One birder saw it flying down East 90th Street near East End Avenue.
Red-tailed Hawk
Ed Gaillard
Tufted Titmouse and local birder Lisa Zemann
Jay Zemann
How it got here is a mystery. Western Tanagers usually keep to the West Coast and never venture further across the country than the west side of Texas. Jeff Kimball, a previous president of NYC Audubon told patch.com that; ‘It’s always a delight to see them. It’s not the most common bird on the West Coast either.‘ His guess for how the Western Tanager made it over here is that it got turned around during a storm and instead of flying south to Mexico and Costa Rica, where it usually winters, it headed east until it hit the East River. ‘Now it doesn’t know what to do, so it will hunker down and may not survive the winter.’ Unless of course, it can find enough good things to eat in Carl Schurz Park.
White-breasted Nuthatch
Gig Palileo
White-throated Sparrow
Deborah E Bifulco
Full disclosure, there are two Western Tanagers in Manhattan at the moment. The other one landed in Chelsea and has been spotted foraging for food up and down West 22nd Street. One birder joked they must be male birds because they ‘refused to ask for directions.’ However ours is likely a female or a juvenile bird, says Ed Gaillard. The male Western Tanagers have a striking red head, as if they’ve been dipped head first into crimson paint, but the red markings often fade in the fall.
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Baltimore Oriole (fall plumage)
Gig Palileo
Hermit Thrush
Gig Palileo
On a late December day, three birders scoping out trees in Carl Schurz for the Western Tanager were delighted by a large Red-tailed Hawk, with its four-to-five foot wing span, swooping down just feet away to catch prey. They are a very visible species in the park right now, as are Tufted Titmice, White-throated Sparrows, White-breasted Nuthatch and Black-capped Chickadees.
Yellow-bellied Sapsuker
Ed Gaillard
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Gig Palileo
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Jay Zemann
Gig Palileo, who captured images of the Western Tanager, is a nearby resident. She began birding in 2019. ‘It is my therapy. It’s pure joy. Especially now since Covid.’ This month in Carl Schurz Park she also spotted two Baltimore Orioles, a Hermit Thrush pecking on the ground, and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (a small woodpecker) enjoying the sap on an Elm tree. Jay Zemann recently spotted another rare find a Leucistic House sparrow, a partial albino sparrow with white tips to its wings. Birders also reported a Carolina Wren, a Red-bellied Woodpecker, a pair of Cardinals and a huge flock of House Finches (the males are distinguished by their striking raspberry-colored heads).
Carolina Wren
Gig Palileo
Cardinal
Jay Zemann
So if you were thinking Winter in the park is the quiet season, you may want to bring your binoculars. As Jay Zemann notes: ‘The cool winds have brought an interesting flush of birds through the park.’
House Finch
Renee Grayson
Leucistic House Sparrow
Jay Zemann
Words: Lucie Young
Images: Gig Palileo, Jay Zemann, Ed Gaillard, Jerry McFarland and Renee Grayson