New York City Bird Species by the Numbers

Most non-birders wouldn't consider New York City a hotbed of wildlife, but the numbers say otherwise. Consider these statistics:

Total number of bird species recorded in North America (AOU): 981
Total number of bird species recorded in New York State (NYSARC): 476
Total number of bird species recorded in New York City (Cornell eBird): 386

That means that 39.3% of all the birds ever recorded in North American have been seen in New York City. That may not seem like a lot, but let's compare the area:

North American total area: 9,540,000 sq mi
New York City total area: 468.9 sq mi

So, in a nutshell, over one third of the birds on the North American checklist have been recorded in a minuscule 0.0049% of the total area; or an area so small that it is covered by the tip of the arrow in this image (click to enlarge):



So what are you waiting for? Get out there and find some birds!