This past week, near the stone stairs at W. 207th Street in Inwood Hill Park, American Goldfinches have been busy pulling apart the new buds on elm saplings and gorging on them. They flit about a group of young trees, opening the buds and chewing on the flowers. On the morning of February 28, I counted nine goldfinches.
This early in the spring migration season, the goldfinches are still a pale yellow. Their characteristic bright yellow will deepen with a molting process, but their gathering now brightens the late winter landscape. I’ve seen American Goldfinches in this same spot, but I do not recall seeing them this early. Finches are little birds and can be easily overlooked.
American Goldfinches are vegetarian. They aren’t interested in insects and prefer to feast on trees like elms and maples for their sustenance. As I observed, they are not delicate eaters, filling their beaks with opened flowers.
Cover: American Goldfinch. February 24, 2025
Birdwatching and Mental Health
Birdwatching has been shown to improve mental health. A 2022 study of British participants published in Nature showed the beneficial impact of birdwatching. While simply being in nature is a well-studied aspect of self care, this study indicates that watching and hearing birds goes above and beyond the experience.
The effect of seeing birds was also determined to have lingering benefits for up to eight hours. See 2022 article. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-20207-6. After a satisfying morning of birdwatching, I feel this afterglow for the rest of the day.
An article in Time (Nov 14, 2022) summarizes the report as well as additional studies of the correlation between birdwatching and wellbeing. https://time.com/6231886/birdwatching-mental-health/
My resolution for the month is to replace excessive news consumption and social media addiction with unplugged bird walks.
New Bird List on Birds of Inwood
Look for a new page in the menu bar that lists all the birds described in these pages and links to posts. Birds of Inwood is celebrating its 2nd anniversary this month, and I will be adding more feature pages, including resources for local birding.
BirdCast Resumes for the Spring Season
Cornell Lab’s BirdCast resumed publishing migration tools and forecasting maps on March 1, 2025. See https://birdcast.info/migration-tools/ for data on birds migrating throughout the continental United States.
March 2025 Sightings
The month of March is one of the most exciting times to observe birds in the park. The month coincides with early spring migration and breeding season. On March 1, I observed a female and male Red-bellied Woodpecker exploring the park together. Their portrait here serves as the feature image for the March 2025 sightings page.
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Recent posts
- Northern Mockingbird – The Bossiest Singer in the Park
- An Early Spring Preview of the Birds of Inwood
- The Snowiest of Snows, and a Bald Eagle Appears
- Blizzard Warning: A Great Blue Heron Hunkers Down, and Other Stories of the Birds of Inwood in a Cold and Snowy Month
- A Red-shouldered Hawk for Valentine’s Day
Birds of Inwood 
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