Common Birds of New York State (USA)

The booming call of the "thunder pumper" echoing from cattail marshes at Montezuma NWR is one of New York's most evocative wildlife sounds — the cryptic bird itself requires patient searching.

The sky-blue male singing from the canopy of mature riverside forest is becoming increasingly hard to find — New York's Allegany mountains and Hudson Valley are remaining strongholds.

One of North America's hardest sparrows to see well — sings its hiccup-like "ts-lick" from dense grass tussocks at a handful of managed New York grasslands.

Nests in managed enclosures on Long Island barrier beaches — Jones Beach and Fire Island are among the largest northeastern breeding sites.

A golden swamp warbler that nests in tree cavities over standing water — the Wallkill NWR's extensive swamp forest is the most reliable New York site for this southern specialty.

Spectacular plunge-divers seen offshore from Montauk in autumn — hundreds stream south along the Long Island coast in November, folding into vertical power-dives for fish.

Once extirpated from New York, Wild Turkeys now thrive across the state — spring gobbling from forested hillsides throughout the Catskills and Adirondacks is a sign of the season.

New York's Long Island hosts major Common Tern colonies — elegant divers that nest on barrier island beaches and feed in the productive waters of Long Island Sound.