New York City Audubon

New York City Audubon is an American non-profit environmental organization incorporated in 1979. The group’s mission reads in part: “New York City Audubon is a grassroots community that works for the protection of wild birds and habitat in the five boroughs, improving the quality of life for all New Yorkers.” With nearly 10,000 members, it is one of the largest organizations in the Audubon movement. It is named in honor of John James Audubon, an ornithologist and naturalist who shot, painted, catalogued, and described the Birds of North America.

In recent years, New York City Audubon has exercised particular influence in two areas: the restoration of the red-tailed hawk Pale Male's nest and the fatal effects of light pollution and glass windows on migratory birds.

New York City Audubon organized the protests that followed the removal of Pale Male’s nest in December, 2004 and played a major role in negotiating a solution with the co-op board of 927 Fifth Avenue. Although Pale Male and his mate, Lola, continued to nest at the site. No new chicks fledged in subsequent years. In 2008, NYC Audubon recruited experts from around the country to assess the problem, and removed pigeon spikes from the nest structure as a result of their recommendations. In 2011, Pale Male, with a new mate, successfully fledged two chicks, suggesting that fertility issues were the likely cause of the nest failure from 2005-2010.

Each year, at least many tens of thousands of birds are killed in North America by flying into windows. In 1997 New York City Audubon launched Project Safe Flight, modeled after Toronto’s Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP), to work toward long-term solutions for the bird collision problem. From the program’s inception through 2013, field volunteers have found more than 6,000 dead or injured birds of more than 100 species. The most frequently harmed species include white-throated sparrows, common yellowthroats, and ovenbirds. Project Safe Flight works with building owners and managers to address site-specific threats to migratory birds and is working with politicians, architects, glass manufacturers and others to seek long-term solutions. Prior to 9/11 the management of the World Trade Center gained a good deal of notice when, at New York City Audubon’s request, they placed protective netting around the lower flowers of 1 WTC and 2 WTC. The netting acted somewhat like a trampoline — instead of striking the glass, the birds just bounced off, unharmed.

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