Nearly 6,000 Birds Spotted In Central Park In Single Day

CENTRAL PARK, NY — Dozens of dedicated birdwatchers scoured Central Park last month in order to document every type of species living the Manhattan's largest green space.

Sixty-nine volunteers participated in this year's bird count organized by NYC Audubon, the city Parks Department, the Urban Park Rangers and the Central Park Conservancy, according to NYC Audubon. During the day-long count on Dec. 17, 2017, 5,592 birds of 58 different species were spotted inside the park.

The most common bird species in Central Park is the Rock Pigeon with 1,021 counts, NYC Audubon announced. Rounding out the top five are the House Sparrow (1,011), the European Starling (5,32), the Ring-billed Gull (484) and the Mallard (431).

There were several species which had only one bird was counted inside the park such as the Northern Pintail, American Kestrel, American Woodcock, Common Raven, Brown Creeper, Common Yellowthroat, Ovenbird, Swamp Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow and Boat-tailed Grackle.

NYC Audubon has held a bird count in Central Park every year since 1900. In the first count a 12-year-old named Charles H. Rogers went to the park on Christmas Day to count the birds.

NYC Audubon will study the Central Park bird count alongside counts held in New Jersey, Inwood Hill Park, Riverside Park, Harlem, Bryant Park, Stuyvesant Town, East River Park, Lower Manhattan and Sunnyside, Queens, to create a profile of the region's bird life.

See the full count results here.

Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images News/Getty Images