Video preview of Thursday’s grassland birds presentation: Young, Gifted & Wild About Birds, with Shannon Curley and Jose Ramirez-Garofalo

March 21, 2022 — The number of birds in North America has fallen by about 30 percent over the past 50 years, and grassland birds have suffered particularly large losses. But something of a miracle is happening to grassland species on a very small scale — and on Staten Island, of all places.

At the 2,000-acre Freshkills Park, formerly the site of the world’s largest landfill, 1,000 acres have been restored to grasslands. And grasslands birds are thriving.

In just a short time Freshkills has become the home of 300-plus pairs of nesting Savannah Sparrows, 82 pairs of Grasshopper Sparrows, and 8 pairs of Sedge Wrens, plus Bobolinks and Eastern Meadowlarks.

Two young Freshkills researchers — Shannon Curley, Ph.D., and Jose Ramirez-Garofalo, a Ph.D. candidate at Rutgers University — will be talking about this amazing grasslands project and its birds, on Thursday, March 24, 2022, 7 p.m. on Zoom.

Their presentation is called “Grassland Birds Are Thriving In The Least Likely Place.” It is part of Connecticut Audubon’s ongoing Young, Gifted, and Wild About Birds series. Sign up now. The cost is $8 for Connecticut Audubon members, or $10 for non-members.

“Grassland Birds Are Thriving In The Least Likely Place.