XOXO Gossip Bird – Birds on the Upper East SideBirds can be found all over New York City and, like people, contribute to the personality and identity of certain areas and neighborhoods. Walking around my neighborhood of the Upper East Side, I know I am likely to see scandalous pigeons mating on fire escapes and talkative sparrows singing in the trees. For this project, I wanted to learn more and visualize the types of birds that populate my neighborhood and what they get up to.   The data at hand was collected over a course of four bird watching sessions taking place in parks in my neighborhood, including Central Park North and Carl Schurz Park. These bird watching sessions lasted approximately 1.5 hours each. The information collected includes bird name, Latin family name, dominant color, location, and behavior. It is important to note that this data set does not represent an objective record of all birds in these areas. To be collected, the bird had to be noticed by me, the birdwatcher, and accurately identified either by preexisting knowledge or online assistance.   The bar chart above shows the total count of birds by family in both parks across all bird watching sessions. Not surprisingly, the family ‘Columbidae’ which includes doves and pigeons had the most recorded observations. This was followed by ‘Passeridae’, which includes Old World sparrows.   The tree chart above paints a visual picture of the colors of the birds observed on the upper east side. The expanse of greys and browns from pigeons, sparrows and geese are cut by bits of flashing red and yellow from rarer birds such as cardinals and kinglets.   After separating out the birds in Central Park North and Carl Schurz Park, two different demographics are revealed. The most identified bird in Carl Schurz was a Domestic Pigeon, whereas the most identified bird in Central Park North was a Canada Goose. This may be due to the stagnant ponds present in Central Park. While no geese were spotted in Carl Schurz, Gulls make up 2.2% of the sightings due to its placement on the East River.  To understand the personality of the bird populations in my neighborhood, I created the following pie charts of the behavior of four commonly sighted birds. Not surprisingly, Canada Geese were mostly found swimming in bodies of water. Since it is Spring, almost all four birds can be found foraging. House Sparrows were mostly found singing, painting a more aural picture of the neighborhood of birds. Pigeons, though mainly idle or foraging, were found courting or mating 11% of the time. Love is in the air!  This project, including the data collection and visualization processes, proved to be a fun way to interact with the fauna of my neighborhood. However, many improvements could be made. Having more researchers to help collect the data on the bird-watching excursions would be very helpful in gaining more diverse and accurate data. As one birdwatcher, I can only focus on so many bird sightings at one time. Additionally, incorporating a device such as a tally counter may help in accuracy of counting high density birds such as pigeons and sparrows. I would also like to gather data such as time of day and weather to further explore when certain birds are out and about. Gathering more data would allow for more interesting visualizations and conclusions!  Overall, this preliminary project brings me, other avid birdwatchers, and those who live on the Upper East Side, into the complex world of birds. Whether mating, foraging, singing, they are all contributing to the unique personality and natural allure of the neighborhooRead More »XOXO Gossip Bird – Birds on the Upper East Side

Loud Parties in NYCNew York City is nicknamed ‘The City That Never SRead More »Loud Parties in NYC