Grasshopper sparrow rebounds at New York landfill park after 97% state decline

AI digestMimile.ai EditorialAugust 31, 2026 at 05:46 AM

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Grasshopper sparrow rebounds at New York landfill park after 97% state decline

The grasshopper sparrow, whose New York population fell 97% between the 1980s and 2000s, now nests in large numbers at Freshkills Park on Staten Island. Researchers from the College of Staten Island recorded over 50 nesting pairs in 2020, one of the state's healthiest concentrations. The colony grew from a single detection in 2015 to 21 pairs in 2017.

Key Facts

The grasshopper sparrow's New York population fell 97% between the 1980s and 2000s breeding bird surveys.
Freshkills Park on Staten Island spans 2,200 acres, three times the size of Central Park, and is opening in stages through 2036.
Researchers from the College of Staten Island, led by Richard Veit, first detected grasshopper sparrows nesting on the capped landfill in 2015.
The nesting colony grew to 21 pairs in 2017 and over 50 pairs in 2020, according to the NYC Bird Alliance.

The Landfill Transformation

Fresh Kills was the largest landfill on Earth, with four mounds of compacted refuse rising up to 200 feet over the wetlands of western Staten Island. The landfill closed in 2001, briefly reopened to receive World Trade Center debris, and then began conversion into Freshkills Park. Each mound is sealed under a landfill cap of soil layers, geotextiles, and an impermeable plastic geomembrane, with wells collecting methane below. The Department of Sanitation seeded native grasses across the mounds until half the park's 2,200 acres had become meadow.

Sparrow Colonization

Researchers from the College of Staten Island, led by ornithologist Richard Veit, had been counting birds on the Fresh Kills mounds since the 1990s. They logged wintering flocks of savannah sparrows, horned larks, and snow buntings first, then in 2015 discovered grasshopper sparrows nesting on the capped landfill. The colony grew from that first detection to 21 nesting pairs in 2017, and by 2020 the NYC Bird Alliance reported over 50 pairs nesting at the park in a single season. The grasshopper sparrow is a state species of special concern breeding inside New York City limits.

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Grasshopper sparrow rebounds at New York landfill park after 97% state decline

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Grasshopper sparrow rebounds at New York landfill park after 97% state decline

Key Facts

The Landfill Transformation

Sparrow Colonization

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