Mercer Times

There are roughly 10,000 species of birds in the world, 480 of those species have been seen in NJ, and 310 have been reported in Mercer County! This National Bird Day we want to celebrate these amazing creatures and highlight some of the crowd favorite species that appear in our parks throughout the year.

Mercer Meadows is a mecca for grassland birds of all seasons providing breeding habitat for specialists such as Grasshopper Sparrows and Eastern Meadowlark as well as wintering grounds for Northern Harriers, Short-eared owls, and American Tree Sparrows.

Roebling Park is an important breeding area for marsh loving birds like Red-winged Blackbirds and Wood Ducks and in the fall and winter it fills with migratory duck species staying for the winter such as Northern Pintail, Gadwall, American Wigeon and many others.Baldpate Mountain is an important stronghold for breeding warbler species throughout the spring and summer. Species like Chestnut-sided Warbler, Hooded Warbler, and Blue-winged Warbler are not uncommon and can be heard singing throughout the season.

Mercer County Park regularly has breeding bald eagles and has them around all winter as well! We have counted over 40 Bald Eagle on the lake over the winter at a time. Mercer County Park is also a great spot to see a variety of woodpeckers like Red-bellied Woodpecker and Yellow-breasted Sapsucker.

Original source can be found here.