January Birds

It's hard to believe that a new year of birdwatching around New York City has begun. I feel like it was just a short while ago that I was looking at a Thick-billed Murre along the shore of Coney Island. In reality, it was over a year ago. This past January didn't see anything quite as unusual in Brooklyn, but I did manage to finish the month having observed 90 species of birds. For the entire state I tallied 93 species.

Many of the species seen last month are birds that I would expect to find easily during the course of the year. One, the Tufted Duck, was a life bird which is not likely to be seen over the course of 10 years! A small percentage of my January Brooklyn birds are considered uncommon. They were Redhead, Black Vulture, Rough-legged Hawk, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Raven and Lapland Longspur.

I can't really complain about the number of species that I was able to locate last month, but January of 2010 was much more impressive. I finished that month with 100 species. In addition to last year's Thick-billed Murre, two other rarities found last January were Red-necked Grebe and Mew Gull. I suspect that this winter's heavy snowfall has played a role in some of the 10 missing species from my January 2011 list. Hopefully, February will hold a few surprises.

January birds:

1) Brant (Shore Road Park, 01/03/11)
2) Canada Goose (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)
3) Mute Swan (Prospect Park, 01/02/11)
4) Gadwall (Shore Road Park, 01/03/11)
5) American Wigeon (Dreier-Offerman Park, 01/03/11)
6) American Black Duck (Prospect Park, 01/02/11)
7) Mallard (Prospect Park, 01/02/11)
8) Northern Shoveler (Prospect Park, 01/02/11)
9) Northern Pintail (Mill Pond-Oyster Bay, 01/05/11)
10) Green-winged Teal (Hendrix Creek, 01/09/11)
11) Canvasback (Hendrix Creek, 01/09/11)
12) Redhead (Dreier-Offerman Park, 01/06/11)
13) Ring-necked Duck (Mill Pond-Oyster Bay, 01/05/11)
14) Tufted Duck (Cold Spring Harbor - South, 01/05/11)
15) Greater Scaup (Shore Road Park, 01/03/11)
16) Lesser Scaup (Cold Spring Harbor - South, 01/05/11)
16) Lesser Scaup (Hendrix Creek, 01/09/11)
17) Surf Scoter (Coney Island--West End, 01/06/11)
18) Black Scoter (Coney Island Pier, 01/17/11)
19) Long-tailed Duck (Cold Spring Harbor - South, 01/05/11)
19) Long-tailed Duck (Coney Island--West End, 01/06/11)
20) Bufflehead (Veterans Memorial Pier, 01/03/11)
21) Common Goldeneye (Gravesend Bay, 01/06/11)
22) Hooded Merganser (Dreier-Offerman Park, 01/03/11)
23) Red-breasted Merganser (Shore Road Park, 01/03/11)
24) Ruddy Duck (Dreier-Offerman Park, 01/03/11)

25) Red-throated Loon (Gravesend Bay, 01/06/11)
26) Common Loon (Gravesend Bay, 01/06/11)
27) Pied-billed Grebe (Marine Park--West, 01/29/11)
28) Horned Grebe (Floyd Bennett Field--Archery Road, 01/08/11)

29) Double-crested Cormorant (Veterans Memorial Pier, 01/03/11)
30) Great Cormorant (Floyd Bennett Field--Archery Road, 01/08/11)

31) Great Blue Heron (Hendrix Creek, 01/09/11)

32) Black Vulture (Mill Basin, 01/09/11)
33) Northern Harrier (Dead Horse Bay, 01/08/11)
34) Sharp-shinned Hawk (Prospect Park--Feeders, 01/26/11)
35) Cooper's Hawk (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)
36) Red-shouldered Hawk (Floyd Bennett Field--Grassland, 01/19/11)
37) Red-tailed Hawk (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)
38) Rough-legged Hawk (Marine Park--West, 01/29/11)
39) American Kestrel (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)
40) Merlin (Prospect Park--Nethermead, 01/10/11)
41) Peregrine Falcon (Prospect Park, 01/02/11)

42) American Coot (Prospect Park, 01/02/11)

43) Black-bellied Plover (Dead Horse Bay, 01/15/11)
44) Killdeer (Marine Park--West, 01/29/11)
45) Purple Sandpiper (Shore Road Park, 01/03/11)

46) Bonaparte's Gull (Shore Road Park, 01/03/11)
47) Black-headed Gull (Veterans Memorial Pier, 01/09/11)
48) Ring-billed Gull (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)
49) Herring Gull (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)
50) Lesser Black-backed Gull (Coney Island Creek Park, 01/17/11)
51) Great Black-backed Gull (Prospect Park, 01/02/11)

52) Rock Pigeon (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)
53) Mourning Dove (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)

54) Monk Parakeet (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)

55) Great Horned Owl (Prospect Park, 01/02/11)

56) Belted Kingfisher (Hendrix Creek, 01/09/11)

57) Red-bellied Woodpecker (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)
58) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)
59) Downy Woodpecker (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)
60) Hairy Woodpecker (Prospect Park, 01/02/11)
61) Northern Flicker (Floyd Bennett Field--Archery Road, 01/08/11)

62) Blue Jay (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)
63) American Crow (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)
64) Common Raven (Floyd Bennett Field--Grassland, 01/08/11)

65) Horned Lark (Floyd Bennett Field--Grassland, 01/08/11)

66) Black-capped Chickadee (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)
67) Tufted Titmouse (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)
68) Red-breasted Nuthatch (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)
69) White-breasted Nuthatch (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)

70) Carolina Wren (Prospect Park, 01/02/11)

71) American Robin (Prospect Park, 01/02/11)

72) Gray Catbird (Prospect Park, 01/07/11)
73) Northern Mockingbird (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)

74) European Starling (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)

75) American Pipit (Dreier-Offerman Park, 01/03/11)
76) Lapland Longspur (Floyd Bennett Field, 01/22/11)
77) Snow Bunting (Floyd Bennett Field--Grassland, 01/08/11)

78) Yellow-rumped Warbler (Floyd Bennett Field--Grassland, 01/08/11)

79) American Tree Sparrow (Dreier-Offerman Park, 01/03/11)
80) Chipping Sparrow (Prospect Park, 01/07/11)
81) Fox Sparrow (Prospect Park, 01/02/11)
82) Song Sparrow (Dreier-Offerman Park, 01/03/11)
83) Swamp Sparrow (Prospect Park, 01/02/11)
84) White-throated Sparrow (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)
85) White-crowned Sparrow (Dreier-Offerman Park, 01/03/11)
86) Dark-eyed Junco (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)

87) Northern Cardinal (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)
88) Red-winged Blackbird (Prospect Park, 01/02/11)
89) Brown-headed Cowbird (Prospect Park--Feeders, 01/10/11)

90) House Finch (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)
91) Pine Siskin (Prospect Park, 01/02/11)
92) American Goldfinch (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)

93) House Sparrow (Green-Wood Cemetery, 01/01/11)