Ten Things I Learned from Marie Winn

On Saturday a group of nature enthusiasts met at the 92nd St. Y to hear Marie Winn talk about animals and their nocturnal activity in Central Park. She's the author of the new book "Central Park in the Dark."Marie is a grand and gifted storyteller and has been following some of the creatures featured in her talk for many years - the most famous one being Pale Male, the red-tailed hawk who nested on a Fifth Avenue apartment building and had his romance with Lola chronicled in Winn's previous book "Redtails in Love," which was later made into a documentary film. Below are a few highlights of her talk.
"Pale Male" (c) D. Bruce Yolton

1)White Footed Mouse - This is probably the cutest rodent you'll ever see. Problem is, he's very hard to find. The only way they were discovered in Central Park was by analyzing owl pellets. Bone particles found in the owl droppings were taken to the Museum of Natural History to be identified.

2)Robins - Huge numbers of robins visit Central Park. In fact, Central Park has a higher density of robins per square mile than just about any place on earth. One of their favorite trees (at the north end of the Great Lawn) has been given the nickname "All Male Dormitory."

3)Common Grackle

As many as 1000 Common Grackles and starlings fly into 10 trees surrounding the Pulitzer Fountain near the Plaza Hotel (in front of Bergdorf Goodman) to roost overnight at dusk from summer to late fall. It's strange that so many birds arrive every evening with so few people noticing.

4) Owls

Some of the species of owls found in Central Park include Barn Owls, the Great Horned, Saw Whet, and Screech owls, which nest year round in the park's North End. Once, a Boreal Owl showed up near Tavern on the Green and and lots of birders made a pilgrimage to see him. (A "life bird" is a bird seen for the first time in one's life, and the Boreal was on many people's list of "life birds" still to be seen.) The love lives of these owls, their romances and fledgelings, are avidly monitored by the owl enthusiasts that frequent the park. (photo (c) D. Bruce Yolton)

5)Moths -
Many don't know that moths have two pairs of wings - the bright colors and eye-like markings on some of the underwings are used to scare birds away. The largest moth seen in Central Park was the rare Black Witch (shown at left) Others include the Small-Eyed Sphinx, the Plume, the Cabbage Looper, the Ilia, the Sweetheart, the Widow, the Wavy-Lined Emerald and Lobelia Dagger and many others. If you want to be a "Mother" (rhymes with author) don't wear "Off". You can attract moths to your yard with a special moth light.

6) Crickets & Cicadas
A snowy tree cricket is known as the weatherman of the bug world because you can find the approximate ambient Fahrenheit temperature by counting the number of his chirps in a 13 second interval, and then adding 40. These insects can sometimes be identified by their chirps. A cicada emerging from it's nymph shell is an amazing sight - you can actually see the fluid fill the wings.


7)Slugs - All slugs have both male and female organs. Watching them have sex is something everyone needs to do at least once in their life. They entwine around each other and their slime co-mingles to form a beautiful luminescent flower.

8)Stars - The Amatuer Astronomers Association gathers once a year for "Urban Starfest" on the Sheep Meadow. They bring their telescopes and invite the public to join them. Read more at on their website.

9)Bats - Bats find their prey by making high-pitched sounds and listening to the echos they produce when they bounce off their target - a process called echolocation. It's not easy to find bats at night, so people who want to see them often use a bat detector, a hand-held instrument that translates ultrasonic bat songs into frequencies people can hear. Bats typically emit sounds between 20 and 220 kilohertz.

10) A Coyote found in the Park was pursued by 25 people and had to be subdued with tranquilizers. The whole endeavor took close to 20 hours. The year-old coyote, nicknamed "Hal" died mysteriously after being held captive for a week. He stopped breathing while being tagged for release.


Marie speaks about many of these creatures as if they were her friends. Many of them have names and it's not unusual for their offspring can be doted upon as devotedly as grandchildren. People have set up websites and blogs devoted to following their favorites - Bruce Yolton's blog, http://www.urbanhawks.com/ is extraordinary and is updated regularly with bird video and photos.

Marie's website is at http://www.mariewinn.com/ -- find links there to lots more critter photos and resources.