Indigo Buntings may stop through Riverside Park during migration. Photo: François Portmann
Birding in Riverside Park, Manhattan
Stretching four miles along Manhattan's western edge, Riverside Park offers urban birders a green corridor teeming with bird life. From the designated Bird Sanctuary between 116th and 124th Streets to the newly developed Riverside Park South, this narrow yet vibrant park hosts an impressive variety of species throughout the year. With over 170 bird species recorded, including rarities like Chuck-will's-widow and Snowy Owl, Riverside Park is a must-visit destination for both seasoned birders and casual nature enthusiasts.
Birding Highlights by the Season
(no star = birding is not very productive, ✸ = somewhat productive, ✸✸ = productive, ✸✸✸ = very productive)
Spring Migration ✸✸
Cuckoos, flycatchers, warblers, tanagers, orioles, and other land birds;
Summer ✸
Fledged Peregrine Falcons and Red-tailed Hawks, some nesting land birds such as common woodpeckers, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Carolina Wren, Common Grackle; Chimney Swifts
Fall Migration ✸✸
Raptors, waterbirds; Warblers, thrushes, sparrows, and other land birds
Riverside Park, only one eighth of a mile wide, follows the western side of Manhattan along the Hudson River for four miles. Having been expanded several times, it now reaches from the southern border of Fort Washington Park, at 155th Street, all the way south to West 59th Street. In the 1870s Frederick Law Olmsted prepared the park’s conceptual plan, which was implemented over two decades by designer Calvert Vaux and others. In the 1930s, under Robert Moses and landscape architect Gilmore Clarke, the railroad tracks (now used by Amtrak) were covered over south of 124th Street to make a promenade, and landfill was added along the river for recreational facilities.
In 1980, the 324-acre park was designated a scenic landmark (up to 125th Street) by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Riverside Park is a New York City Park. Riverside Park Conservancy, established in 1986, organizes activities, coordinates volunteers, and raises money towards maintenance and improvements in the park.
A new park section, Riverside Park South, has been under construction since the early 1990s on the former site of the New York Central Railroad’s 60th Street Yard. Expanding the footprint of Riverside Park southwards from West 71st to West 59th Streets and opening in phases, this park provides a green connector between Riverside Park and Hudson River Park to the south.
Birding Areas of Riverside Park - Riverside Park Bird Sanctuary
The forest and meadow areas between 116th and 124th Streets have been designated the Riverside Park Bird Sanctuary. This is the place to bird. Since 1997, the approximately 10 acres of the Sanctuary have been undergoing reforestation, which has included the removal of invasive species, such as Japanese Knotweed, Norway maple, and Ailanthus, and the addition of bird-friendly native plants, such as Hackberry trees, Elderberry, and several species of viburnum and sumac.
Over 3,000 trees, shrubs, and groundcovers have been added, but there is still much to be done. The forest is primarily a monoculture of Black Cherry, and a former wildflower meadow is now a field that tends to fluctuate between being a grass lawn and a weed jungle, depending on an erratic mowing schedule.
In recent decades at least 177 species of birds have been seen in or around the Sanctuary, including all the eastern warblers except Swainson’s and such rarities as White-winged Dove, Chuck-will’s-Widow and Snowy Owl. The yearly average for birds in Riverside Park remains about 120 bird species, which almost always include the following birds:
Blue Grosbeak,
Summer Tanager,
Hooded Warbler,
Mourning Warbler,
and nine species of sparrows, including Lincoln’s, White-crowned, and Savannah.
Common species such as American Robin, Blue Jay, Gray Catbird, Carolina Wren, Common Grackle, and Northern Cardinal nest in the park, though fewer in number than years ago. Less frequent urban park species have nested here, including Baltimore Oriole, Yellow Warbler, and Indigo Bunting.
Birding at Riverside Park. Photo: Leo Wexler-Mann
A male Evening Grosbeak spent several weeks in Riverside Park during a recent winter. Photo: David Speiser
The habitat landscaping of Riverside Park has attracted over 170 species of migrating birds. Photo: Eddie Crimmins
Birding at Riverside Park. Photo: Leo Wexler-Mann
A male Evening Grosbeak spent several weeks in Riverside Park during a recent winter. Photo: David Speiser
The habitat landscaping of Riverside Park has attracted over 170 species of migrating birds. Photo: Eddie Crimmins
Birding Areas of Riverside Park - 116th Street and Riverside Drive
Start your birding journey at 116th and Riverside Drive. Enter the park at 116th Street and scan the Northern Pin Oaks just south of the Sanctuary for orioles, warblers, tanagers and buntings. Descend the hill and take the dirt path through the Women’s Grove, looking especially for woodpeckers and warblers.
At the north end of the grove, continue on the narrower path into the North Woods. You will first pass through habitat that can be productive high up in the trees for warblers and vireos and on the ground for thrushes, towhees, and Ovenbirds. Where the trail branches off into an upper and lower trail is one of the best places in Manhattan for Worm-eating Warbler.
Stay on the lower trail and look and listen for both species of waterthrush. Check the field for sparrows, the occasional meadowlark and the very occasional American Pipit. Check the edge of the field and woods for orioles, tanagers, and the occasional Yellow-billed Cuckoo.
The Hudson River here is almost always a disappointment, with few or no waterbirds except in very cold winters that can bring Red-throated Loons mid-river and Bald Eagles fishing from ice floes.
The upper trail through the North Woods is once again passable but difficult and probably best avoided, though it does offer views into the canopy below.
Birding Areas of Riverside Park - The Drip
In recent decades, the outstanding feature of the Sanctuary has been “the Drip,” a man-made water source where birds come to drink and bathe during spring and fall migration. When the Drip is on, water drips from between two large rocks on a fenced hillside area just south of the 120th Street tennis house. The water collects in a shallow pool that overflows down the hillside into depressions dug in the ground, serving as bathtubs for the smaller birds.
The Drip can be active anytime from mid-April (the time it is normally turned on for the season) through mid-May and from September through mid-October (the time it is turned off for fear of a freeze). It tends to be most active from about 10am to about 1pm, and then again from about 3:30pm to about 6pm. The Drip is most popular on warm, sunny days, when there has been no rain since the previous afternoon and as a result there are no nearby competing source of fresh water.
More than 80 species of birds have been seen in the Drip from Wild Turkeys to Yellow-bellied Flycatchers and both cuckoos, but more commonly seen are tanagers, orioles, buntings and especially warblers (at least 33 species so far), and they can be seen at eye-level from 25 feet away.
The Drip area is safe because there are always tennis players on the nearby courts and almost always an attendant at the tennis house, where there is an emergency phone, a drinking fountain, and bathrooms.
Birding at Riverside Park - Nesting and Visiting Raptors
Across the street from the Sanctuary, Peregrine Falcons have nested for decades about three-quarters of the way up Riverside Church's bell tower. The nest is behind a gargoyle head with boards for perching on either side of it. The adults can be seen (and heard) in the area year round, and usually two to four chicks appear in early June on the ledge just below the nesting area and flap their wings for a few days to strengthen them for their first flight.
A pair of Red-tailed Hawks has also nested in and/or near Riverside Park for a number of years, often by Grant’s Tomb; the birds are seen in the park year-round, and fledglings are often seen in the park through the summer.
While Bald Eagles do not nest here, they have become an increasingly common sighting; while more common in the winter time, when many birds winter further north along the Hudson, birds are now occasionally seen throughout the year.
Birding Areas of Riverside Park - Southern Portion, Riverside Park South, and Pier I
During migration, it can be productive to scan the trees in the park from the height of Riverside Drive from 120th Street to about 108th Street. South of the Bird Sanctuary, pockets of bird habitat can be found all along the path hugging the wall that separates Riverside Park from Riverside Drive, as well as along the water below 86th street, where the Henry Hudson Parkway pulls east, away from the shoreline. eBirders have recorded 148 species in the portion of Riverside Park below 96th Street. As you work your way south, stop by the 79th Street Boat Basin to check for waterfowl and gulls; the piers also provide a vantage point to see birds out on the open water.
And the birding goes on: Between West 71st and West 59th Street, a new park section has been built: Riverside Park South. The park occupies the former location of the New York Central Railroad’s 60th Street Yard.
The pier at the northern end of Riverside Park South, Pier I (at West 70th Street), has become a particularly popular spot to scan for waterbirds and raptors as they fly up or down river during migration. It is also a prime spot to look for unusual species that may be carried our way by hurricanes and other large storm fronts. Unusual sightings at Pier 1 have included:
Golden Eagle,
Franklin’s Gull,
Bridled Tern,
Sooty Terns,
Great Shearwater,
and South Polar Skua.
On the City side, resident raptors such as Peregrine Falcon, American Kestrel, and Red-tailed Hawk are also frequently seen, as they live among nearby skyscrapers. Several green spaces on both sides of the West Side Highway also provide stopover habitat for warblers and other migrating land birds.
When to Go Birding in Riverside Park
See "Birding Highlights by the Season" above; the eBird links below also may be helpful. To learn about bird migration times and get other timing tips, see the When to Bird in NYC guide on our Birding 101 page.
For park operating hours, see the “Directions and Visiting Info” section, below.
eBird
View eBird hotspot records for Riverside Park north of 96th Street, South of 96th Street, and Riverside Park South’s Pier I and vicinity to explore recent bird sightings, species bar charts, a map of other nearby hotspots, and more. (Click on “Hotspot Map” at left to see other areas of Riverside Park; note that in eBird, the park is divided into several sections, and includes many hotspots.)
Personal Safety
Riverside Park and Riverside Park South are generally well frequented and safe to bird. The forested area north of the Bird Sanctuary is less traveled, so it’s best to go with a friend. In the Bird Sanctuary, beware of trailside Poison iIvy.
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