How the New Green Roof Tax Abatement Program Can Combat Climate Change in NYC

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.
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Tribute in Light 2024 Recap: Ensuring Safe Passage for Birds

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.
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Bird Collisions: The Impact of "One"

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.


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New Study Confirms Building Collisions Kill Over One Billion Birds Annually in U.S.

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.
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Islands in the Sky—Growing NYC’s Green Infrastructure

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.
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American Kestrel (Falco Sparverius)

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!" 
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Riverside Park Conservancy Completes Bird-Friendly Retrofit

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.
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How Can Weather Forecasts Help Us Save Birds?

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.
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A Tale of Two Egrets

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. 
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2023 Christmas Bird Count Soars to New Heights

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. 
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Study Shows How Weather, Migration Intensity Affect Bird Collisions in New York City

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. 
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2023 Harbor Herons Report: A Q&A

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.
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Syrinx Spotlight: PSF Volunteer, Photographer & High-School Senior Winston Qin

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. 
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NYC Bird Alliance's Birdy Holiday Gift Guide

NYC Bird Alliance Staff | December 1, 2023
The holiday season is here and the NYC Bird Alliance staff has put together our best and birdiest list of gift recommendations! We have 15 amazing recommendations that are sure to win over the cheery cardinals, weird ducks, and even the grumpy grackles of your life. Happy holidays and happy birding! 
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Small Wins. Big Impact.

Olivia Liang | November 10, 2023
"We understand that the New York we’re in today is not the New York we all grew up in. What is our responsibility?"

A Q&A with NYC Bird Alliance’s new Director of Advocacy and Engagement, Saman Mahmood. 
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Paper Menagerie on Governors Island

Olivia Liang | October 6, 2023
A fascinating new art exhibit imagines how climate change, habitat loss, and human impact would affect the birds of the future. 
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9/11 Memorial Shines a Spotlight on Risks to Birds

Katherine Chen | October 5, 2023
For over 20 years, NYC Bird Alliance scientists have monitored the 9/11 Tribute in Light. This year was particularly hazardous for birds.
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Horseshoe Crab Monitoring 2023 Season Recap

Katherine Chen | August 7, 2023
For nearly 15 years, NYC Bird Alliance has been organizing a special opportunity for community scientists of all ages and backgrounds to come out to the beaches of Jamaica Bay in May and June during 12 nights around the full and new moon. The purpose? To monitor and tag Atlantic Horseshoe Crabs. During these special nights, thousands of horseshoe crabs come ashore along Plumb Beach and Big Egg Marsh in Jamaica Bay to spawn. See highlights from this season in our latest blog post.
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The Christian Cooper Chronicles

Carol Peace Robins | June 1, 2023
NYC Bird Alliance Vice President Christian Cooper shares his passion for birds and chronicles his many adventures in the upcoming book Better Living Through Birding and National Geographic show Extraordinary Birder, both set to debut in June 2023. 
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Turn Off the Lights This Spring and Fall; Save Millions of Lives

Carol Peace Robins | February 27, 2023: 
The bright skyline of New York City may be emblematic of "the city that never sleeps," but the nocturnal glare is dangerous for the millions of migrating birds that travel along the Atlantic Flyway. Learn about this fundamental problem and the ways that NYC Bird Alliance is working towards solutions. 
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PSF FALL 2022

Project Safe Flight Unwrapped: Fall 2022
Katherine Chen | February 27, 2023: 
Results are in from the Fall 2022 Project Safe Flight season, the 26th year of our signature community science research program studying bird collisions in NYC. See key findings from this season, which saw record volunteer participation and coverage of all five boroughs for the first time in the program's history. 
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Volunteer Profile: Junko Suzuki, Determined Birder

Phil Roosevelt | February 27, 2023: 
NYC Bird Alliance's passionate volunteer corps has sustained its conservation work for over 40 years. Meet Audubon Christmas Bird Count surveyor Junko Suzuki.
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Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla)

Don Riepe | February 27, 2023: 
The Laughing Gull, the striking "summer gull" of the East Coast known for its infectious guffaw, has had its ups and downs in New York City. Read about the resilience of this gregarious species and its Jamaica Bay nesting colony. 
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Discover the Thriving Bird Community on the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center's Network of Green Roofs: Over 50 Species Found

Dustin Partridge, PhD | February 1, 2023
At the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, our conservation team has been thrilled to document a staggering 51 bird species thriving on its network of green roofs! This impressive feat is even more remarkable when you consider the building's past reputation for being a danger to birds due to its untreated glass. Learn about the two latest species found at the Javits Center, and why we are seeing an ever-increasing number of birds on its rooftop.
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CBC 2022

A Wonderful 123rd Annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count
Katherine Chen | December 23, 2022
Thank you to all who joined NYC Bird Alliance for the 123rd Annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count on December 18. It was an extraordinary Sunday, with over 200 community scientists fanning out across Manhattan and Northern New Jersey for bird surveys at 35 different locations—seven within Central Park alone! While we are still sifting through the data from all our counts, we are sharing some initial highlights reported by volunteer counters. 
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