Birds of East Park Reservoir
The East Park Reservoir was originally constructed between 1871 and 1889. Since that time, the reservoir has operated as a water storage facility, providing fresh drinking water to homes and businesses in Center City and South Philadelphia. Water stored in the reservoir is initially cleaned at Philadelphia Water treatment plants and is then pumped up to the reservoir for storage. There are four water storage basins in the East Park Reservoir. The West Basin, by far the largest of the four, is a 40-­‐‑acre storage basin and has not been used for water storage since sometime during the early or mid 20th century. Because the West Basin was never drained after being decommissioned, it gradually became a wild lake inhabited by fish and aquatic plants. Isolated and protected within the reservoir, with no water inflow, the West Basin is filled only from rainfall and snow. As a result, the West Basis is a relatively clean body of water that lacks the pollution and silt that plague our local rivers, streams, and wetlands. Many species of water birds are attracted to the relatively clear and unpolluted water that harbors fish and aquatic plants, important food for the water birds. Dabbling ducks, like mallards and wood ducks, eat aquatic plants, insects and roots found just below the water’s surface and feed by floating and eating food they can reach with their bills. Diving waterfowl, like canvasback ducks and mergansers, dive deep beneath the water’s surface to capture fish and aquatic plants, and are particularly attracted to the West Basin. These diving waterfowl also include loons, grebes, coots, cormorants, and several other species of diving ducks. Other species, such as herons and kingfishers, look for fish along the edges of the West Basin. Fish eating raptors such as Ospreys and Bald Eagles occasionally visit the basin to snatch fish from the water’s surface. Canada Geese, gulls and other water birds that do not dive for their food also visit the West Basin mainly to loaf on its waters. The water birds described above use the West Basin mainly during autumn, winter and spring. Most of these are migratory species that spend the winter here and leave to breed in Canada or the northern U.S. during the summer. In addition, a number of species of land birds-­‐‑-­‐‑from hawks to swallows-­‐‑-­‐‑use the woodlands bordering the West Basin. Some of these birds are found in the area throughout the year while others only occur during specific times of the year (in winter, summer, spring, or autumn). Bird Checklist 1.
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Canada Goose Wood Duck Gadwall American Wigeon American Black Duck Mallard Northern Shoveler Green-­‐‑winged Teal Canvasback Redhead Ring-­‐‑necked Duck Greater Scaup Lesser Scaup Long-­‐‑tailed Duck Bufflehead Common Goldeneye Hooded Merganser Common Merganser Red-­‐‑breasted Merganser Ruddy Duck Red-­‐‑throated Loon Common Loon Pied-­‐‑billed Grebe Horned Grebe Red-­‐‑necked Grebe Double-­‐‑crested Cormorant Great Cormorant American Bittern Great Blue Heron Green Heron Black-­‐‑crowned Night-­‐‑
Heron Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Osprey Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Sharp-­‐‑shinned Hawk Cooper’s Hawk Red-­‐‑shouldered Hawk Broad-­‐‑winged Hawk Red-­‐‑tailed Hawk American Kestrel Merlin Peregrine Falcon 45.
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American Coot Killdeer Spotted Sandpiper Solitary Sandpiper Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper American Woodcock Ring-­‐‑billed Gull Herring Gull Great Black-­‐‑backed Gull Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Yellow-­‐‑billed Cuckoo Black-­‐‑billed Cuckoo Eastern Screech-­‐‑Owl Great Horned Owl Common Nighthawk Chimney Swift Ruby-­‐‑throated Hummingbird Belted Kingfisher Red-­‐‑bellied Woodpecker Yellow-­‐‑bellied Sapsucker Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Olive-­‐‑sided Flycatcher Eastern Wood Pewee Yellow-­‐‑bellied Flycatcher Acadian Flycatcher Willow Flycatcher Least Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird White-­‐‑eyed Vireo Yellow-­‐‑throated Vireo Blue-­‐‑headed Vireo Warbling Vireo Philadelphia Vireo Red-­‐‑eyed Vireo Blue Jay American Crow 89.
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Fish Crow Purple Martin Tree Swallow Northern Rough-­‐‑winged Swallow Bank Swallow Cliff Swallow Barn Swallow Carolina Chickadee Black-­‐‑capped Chickadee Tufted Titmouse Red-­‐‑breasted Nuthatch White-­‐‑breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper Carolina Wren House Wren Winter Wren Blue-­‐‑gray Gnatcatcher Golden-­‐‑crowned Kinglet Ruby-­‐‑crowned Kinglet Eastern Bluebird Veery Gray-­‐‑cheeked Thrush Swainson’s Thrush Hermit Thrush Wood Thrush American Robin Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher European Starling Cedar Waxwing Ovenbird Worm-­‐‑eating Warbler Northern Waterthrush Blue-­‐‑winged Warbler Black-­‐‑and-­‐‑white Warbler Prothonotary Warbler Tennessee Warbler Nashville Warbler Connecticut Warbler Mourning Warbler Common Yellowthroat Hooded Warbler American Redstart 133.
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Cape May Warbler Cerulean Warbler Northern Parula Magnolia Warbler Bay-­‐‑breasted Warbler Blackburnian Warbler Yellow Warbler Chestnut-­‐‑sided Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Black-­‐‑throated Blue Warbler Palm Warbler Pine Warbler Yellow-­‐‑rumped Warbler Yellow-­‐‑throated Warbler Prairie Warbler 148. Black-­‐‑throated Green Warbler 149. Canada Warbler 150. Wilson’s Warbler 151. Eastern Towhee 152. American Tree Sparrow 153. Chipping Sparrow 154. Field Sparrow 155. Nelson’s Sparrow 156. Fox Sparrow 157. Song Sparrow 158. Lincoln’s Sparrow 159. Swamp Sparrow 160. White-­‐‑throated Sparrow 161. White-­‐‑crowned Sparrow 162. Dark-­‐‑eyed Junco 163.
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Scarlet Tanager Northern Cardinal Rose-­‐‑breasted Grosbeak Indigo Bunting Bobolink Red-­‐‑winged Blackbird Rusty Blackbird Common Grackle Brown-­‐‑headed Cowbird Orchard Oriole Baltimore Oriole Purple Finch House Finch Pine Siskin American Goldfinch House Sparrow Prepared by Keith Russell Audubon Pennsylvania 11/4/14