Birds of Giants Stadium

My sister and I went to the Giants (New York football, not San Francisco baseball) game last night to watch them handily dispatch the Kansas City Chiefs. Sporting events, at least outdoor ones, present opportunities for decent birding, particularly if you like gulls. Giants Stadium is home to the standard complement of these adaptable seabirds, most of which are  Herring and  Ring-billed Gulls. Rock Pigeons, European Starlings, and House Sparrows, what I lovingly refer to as the Trash Triumvirate, must be avid sports fans, because they’ll be found at every game.

Gulls and urban specialists are the species one expects to see in, on, above, and around an outdoor arena. However, anyone with an eye to the sky might also spot hawks, vultures, swallows, and swifts soaring overhead. I noted a few of these species while waiting for the game to begin, but the highlight sighting was definitely the American Kestrel that flew into the stadium to perch on an electrical wire. In the right light, the azure and orange plumage of this petite predator resembles the Giants’ team colors. Go Big Blue!