rhamphotheca: Wildlife Oases in New York’s Concrete Jungle A…
Thursday, April 3rd, 2014Wildlife Oases in New York’s Concrete Jungle
A resourceful researcher discovers that urban green roofs attract surprisingly large numbers of migratory birds and their insect prey
by Rachel Nuwer
NEW YORK CITY’S CONGESTED AVENUES and imposing skyscrapers hardly seem like suitable wildlife habitat, save perhaps for the most hardy pigeon or rat.
But each year a teeming diversity of migrating birds pass through this urban jungle. While most of those feathered visitors are drawn to large expanses of green such as Central Park, Prospect Park and Jamaica Bay, others congregate in whatever small pockets of habitat they can find—a vacant lot or a bushy median strip—where they feed and rest before continuing on their way.
Now, a growing number of green roofs in the city are adding to those avian refuges, providing safe havens high above the honking cabs and frenetic crowds…
(read more: National Wildlife Federation)
photos: Magnolia Warbler – Sanjib Bhattacharya and rooftop garden – Dustin Partridge
Reposted from http://ift.tt/1h7WSg6.
