Van Cortlandt Park showcases urban wildlife

It’s really exciting to get other people excited and interested in wildlife and a lot of them never knew that these birds and plants existed in the park.”

Debbi Dolan, local nature guide

When people think of wildlife, they think of rural landscapes, rich with plant life and diverse creatures, but Bronxites know, wildlife exists in their backyard, and right in Van Cortlandt Park. 

Celebrated on Dec. 4, World Wildlife Conservation Day was created in 2012 to raise awareness on the issues plaguing wildlife, like extinction, endangerment, trafficking and poaching. At 1,146 acres, Van Cortlandt Park is the third largest park in NYCwith three distinct habitats – forest, wetlands and meadows – home to hundreds of species and all protected by the Forever Wild Preserve program. 

Riverdale resident Debbi Dolan, understands the importance of this work.  

Dolan moved to the area with her husband in 2001 and began birding and logged her sightings in the book outside of the Van Cortlandt Nature Center at West 246th Street and Broadway. She was contacted by park ecologist Dennis Burton, regarding her dozens of entries, and the Nature Group of Van Cortlandt was formed. 

Since 2014, the group, run by Dolan, goes on two nature walks a month where she guides participants, identifying birds and plants in the park. 

Some of the native species Dolan frequently spots in the park include white-throated sparrows and northern shovelers. The sparrows have an array of brown and black feathers with a distinct yellow spot on their head just above their eyes. Breeding mostly in Canada, the sparrows frequent eastern and southern North America during winter months. There are also the northern shovelers, medium-sized ducks named for their shovel-shaped bills.

Rare sightings include the barnacle goose often in grassy areas, characterized by its black, white and silver feathers which, according to Cornell University, take up permanent residence in the North and Baltic Seas, migrating to Arctic regions like Greenland and Iceland. 

“We have about 270 different birds that have been sighted,” Dolan said. 

However, she said this number has begun to dwindle in recent years. Every year the group participates in the Christmas Bird Count organized by the National Audubon Society, an organization dedicated to protecting birds and their habitats. 

A 2022 report from the North American Bird Conservation Initiative, reported an estimated three billion breeding birds have been lost since 1970 in nearly every habitat, including shorebirds, grassland birds and eastern forest birds. 

Part of Dolan’s goal for the nature group’s walks is “to foster nature appreciation and stewardship in the park,” she said. 

Dolan is committed to drawing attention to the importance of nature for those willing to attend the walks. Frequent topics of discussion include talks on invasive species, non-native plants or wildlife that can ultimately harm the environment. 

Beyond Dolan’s nature walks, Christina Taylor, deputy director of the Van Cortlandt Park Alliance, said that the park is home to the usual suspects – chipmunks, squirrels, geese and a growing deer population. 

A number of coyotes have been spotted in recent weeks, but Taylor said they don’t pose much of a threat. 

“Coyotes tend to be very shy and secretive. They don’t usually try to have interactions with people,” she said. 

The best defense against a coyote? Taylor advised that people make themselves big and loud, similar to the advice given when encountering a black bear. As far as enjoying the nature Van Cortlandt Park has to offer, Taylor wants people to stick to the trails and keep their bikes to the designated Putnam Greenway. 

Whether park goers spot coyotes, geese, heron or squirrels Dolan is excited by the idea of more people learning about the kind of nature that exists in the city’s own urban jungle. 

“It’s really exciting to get other people excited and interested in wildlife,” Dolan said. “A lot of them never knew that these birds and plants existed in the park.”