Migratory birds love New York Harbor islands, but humans are forcing them out

New York Harbor is a dating hot spot for migratory birds.

About 40 islands dot the waters around New York City, but only a handful become a hotbed for bird breeding from the end of April to mid-July. These isles are typically off-limits to humans, but every May, New York City Audubon gets special permission from the city parks department to traverse the islands to count the nests of 10 wading bird species — and this year, Gothamist tagged along.

The annual nesting survey for the NYC Harbor Herons Program is more than just counting birds. Audubon scientists use the numbers to gauge the effectiveness of conservation efforts. These wading birds — or waders, as the field researchers call them — are characterized by long necks, long bills and long legs that allow them to catch food in shallow water.

They fill the desolate patches of harbor land with tightly packed reed-spun nests in bushes, in trees or right on the beach. They’re guarded overhead by a cacophony of adult birds screeching, vomiting fish and defecating. By taking tallies at their breeding grounds, scientists can also track adult and baby populations — and the potential threats to their survival.

While this year’s count looks promising with 1,398 active nests — a 25% increase over 2022’s numbers — scientists have witnessed alarming declines in nine of the 10 wading bird species they track in New York City’s waters. Rainbow-breasted glossy ibises and black-crowned night herons are faring the worst, while great egrets are the only birds in the Harbor Herons survey that are not in decline.

“While that may seem like a lot of nests for New York Harbor, these counts are nearly half of what was in the harbor in the mid 1990s,” said Dustin Partridge, director of conservation and science at NYC…