History, Natural History & the Arts
New York State Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs) recently rescued six baby opossums on Long Island, and a whitetail fawn that fell down an abandoned well in Dutchess County.
They also released a previously rescued Bald Eagle along the Mohawk River in Montgomery County. [Read more…] about Recent Wildlife Rescues Around New York State
New York State Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs) made several wildlife rescues recently including a Red-Tailed Hawk on Long Island, two rabbits in Erie County, and an Red-Necked Grebe in Columbia County. [Read more…] about Recent Wildlife Rescues Around New York State
Spring is an ideal time to observe bird migrations. New York is conveniently located along the Atlantic Flyway, one of the main migration routes.
This provides a great opportunity to observe birds flying to their summer breeding grounds. Here’s a few resources to get you started: [Read more…] about Watching Migrating Birds This Spring: A Primer
On February 17, New York State Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs) Ableson and Baldwin responded to a call from the New York City Police Department Harbor Unit regarding an injured bald eagle recovered from a sheet of ice floating beneath the George Washington Bridge.
The NYPD safely captured the bird, wrapped it in a blanket, and placed it on their police vessel. [Read more…] about Bald Eagle Rescued from Beneath George Washington Bridge
On February 21, New York State Environmental Conservation Officer (ECO) CO Milliron responded to a unique call in the Hamlet of East Durham in Greene County, NY.
Employees at an antique store stated that shoppers noticed something extremely lifelike on one of the shelves. A sleepy Eastern Screech Owl was perched next to a chicken cookie jar. [Read more…] about Sleepy Eastern Screech Owl Offers Itself for Sale
The great gray owl (Strix nebulosa) is a northern raptor that only occasionally graces our northeastern states. Also called the phantom of the north, these owls have large facial discs with alternating areas of light and dark gray, creating a concentric ring pattern around their yellow eyes.
Beneath their face is a white “bowtie.” Despite this dapper feature, the owl’s luminous eyes, impressive size, and large talons give it a fierce appearance. [Read more…] about Great Gray Owls: Phantoms of the North
Since it was first introduced into New York State in January 2022, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has been documented in captive birds in multiple counties and detected in free-ranging wild birds and mammals throughout the state.
Wild bird mortalities from HPAI increase in late fall and peak over the winter months, then typically decrease in the late spring and summer months. At this point, it is widespread in wild birds and even suspected to be present in counties where it has not yet been detected. [Read more…] about Stay Alert for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza
On November 22, New York State Environmental Conservation Officer (ECO) Tara Francis responded to a call from dispatch about an injured bird at a residence in North Babylon, Suffolk County, on Long Island.
The homeowner had managed to contain the raptor in a structure. The ECO Francis identified the bird as a juvenile Cooper’s hawk based on its yellow-orange eyes, brownish head, and long-banded, squared-off tail. [Read more…] about Cooper’s Hawk Rescued on Long Island
In late autumn, cold air masses come barreling down from the Canadian Arctic like an atmospheric avalanche, bringing with them a visitor from the North: the rough-legged hawk (Buteo lagopus). [Read more…] about The Rough-Legged Hawk: A Winter Visitor
If you see a bald eagle soaring above Lake George, it is safe to assume that it is descended from one of the scores released in New York State in the 1970s and 80s.
There was nothing inevitable about the return of the bald eagle to the Adirondacks. [Read more…] about Return of the Bald Eagle: A Conservation Success Story
New York Almanack regularly reports on the rescue and relocation of wildlife across New York State. The reports below were provided by the New York State Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs). You can read all our recent wildlife rescue stories here. [Read more…] about Recent Wildlife Rescues: Injured Screech Owl, Black Bear Relocated
On an otherwise unremarkable day in 2023, Jason Love and his colleagues were gathering in a parking lot when they saw something that, as far as we know, no one had ever seen before. Love, the associate director of the Highlands Biological Station in North Carolina, and his colleagues were at a trailhead in the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee when he spotted a male northern cardinal attacking its reflection in a nearby car’s side mirror. [Read more…] about Avian Tool Use: Not So Bird-Brained
Each fall, migrating birds can be seen flying south to their wintering grounds.
This is the ideal time of year for New York residents and visitors to head to Bird Conservation Areas across the state for great bird watching opportunities. [Read more…] about Fall Bird Migration is Underway
Have you seen or photographed a wild bird with a band, tag, or other marker? If you have, you should take a moment to report your observation online, a fast, easy and impactful way to report a banded bird.
A website managed by the USGS Bird Banding Lab (BBL), in collaboration with Canada’s Bird Banding Office, tracks all wild bird band inventory, data, and reports in North America. [Read more…] about How To Report a Banded Bird
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs) recently rescued two raptors: A red-tailed hawk stuck in a well on Long Island and Cooper’s hawk trapped in a screened porch in Columbia County.
On July 22, ECO Dickson received a call from a wildlife rehabilitator reporting an injured hawk stuck in a well in Oyster Bay. [Read more…] about Two Hawks Rescued in Separate Incidents
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs) made two notable wildlife rescues recently, including a eastern timber rattlesnake in Delaware County, and a bald eagle in Schenectady County. [Read more…] about Bald Eagle Rescued From Erie Canal Lock; Rattlesnake Rescued from Home
While doing rounds to check on loon nests in northern Franklin County, NY, a volunteer from the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation noticed something amiss with a bald eagle nest. An adult eagle was perched on a dead branch and the nest was gone.
After a closer look, she found a dead eaglet on the ground and saw the adults circling overhead. [Read more…] about Bald Eagle Family Struggles With Nest Collapses
New York State Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs) recently made several wildlife rescues, including a snake from a house in Delaware County, a disoriented Peregrine falcon at Kensico Reservoir in Westchester County, and a Cormorant in a small backyard pool on Long Island. [Read more…] about Wildlife Rescues: Eastern Milk Snake, Peregrine Falcon & A Cormorant
On April 22, a red-tailed hawk, reported injured in the Bronx and rescued by ECOs, was set free after making a full recovery. The raptor was rescued on February 28th by Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs) Ableson and Baldwin behind The Children’s Learning Center. The bird was able to walk slowly but had trouble flying.
The ECOs safely captured the hawk with a net, placed it in a blanket, and transported it to the Wild Bird Fund rehabilitation center in Manhattan. [Read more…] about Injured Hawk Released; Sick Bear Euthanized
A study published last week in Science reveals that North American bird populations are declining most severely in areas where they should be thriving. Researchers from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology analyzed 36 million bird observations shared by birdwatchers to the Cornell Lab’s eBird program alongside multiple environmental variables derived from high-resolution satellite imagery for 495 bird species across North America from 2007 to 2021.
The team set out to develop reliable information about where birds are increasing or decreasing across North America, but the patterns they uncovered were startling. [Read more…] about Study Shows How Millions of Bird Sightings Unlock Precision Conservation
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