Staten Island birders will one day have a new hotspot to enjoy, but it will take several years before the Fresh Kills landfill officially becomes Freshkills Park, and decades more before the project is complete. According to the New York Times, the 2,200 acre park is being built on a reconditioned landfill site, and when complete it will be nearly triple the size of Central Park. While many birders are happy about the renovation of the area to a more natural habitat, they lament the loss of birds during the transition period.Landfills are popular urban birding spots, since the decomposing trash is a prime food source for scavenging birds, insects attract a wide range of songbirds and rodents are the perfect food source for raptors. Today, the Fresh Kills landfill has fewer birds than it did several years ago when it was purely a landfill, but as the area is transformed into a diverse series of habitats including meadows and wetlands, it is sure to attract even more birds.
For more information on the Freshkills Park project, including guided birding tours during this transition period, visit the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.
Landfill
Photo © D'Arcy Norman
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