Birdist Rule #86: Take Advantage of Our Incredible National Park System
It's National Park Week, so go make use of all those excellent birding destinations. There are a lot more than you think.
Happy National Park听Week, everyone! That's right, it's that time听of year when we set听aside to appreciate one of America's greatest treasures.听(Don't forget that听means 听to any park this coming weekend!) Of course, to many of us,听every day is a good day to celebrate our national park system, which protects some of the 听most famous landmarks in the world. A听few听of the names鈥擸osemite, Grand Canyon, Everglades鈥攅ven evoke听the very essence of what we are as a nation. The system reflects the breadth of the United States: its lands, its people, its history, and its culture.
Oh yeah, and national parks are home to a ton of听birds.
Most people think of our national parks as remote destinations requiring a long trip, but there are national parks听close to听wherever you live. The national park system is composed听of 417 distinct sites, covering all 50 states and most of our island territories. There is听great birding to be found in most of them, and where there aren鈥檛 a lot of birds,听you鈥檒l learn something new听about our culture or history, so it鈥檚 still worth a visit. You can go here to , but don鈥檛 leave just yet. There鈥檚 way more to talk about!
First, it helps to know what exactly our听national park system听entails. While the most famous and popular听sites are often the ones designated 鈥淣ational Park鈥濃攕ee:听Yosemite or听Yellowstone鈥攖he majority听have other听designations. As I outlined in an earlier听column on , the national park system also includes National Military Parks, National Battlefields, National Lakeshores, many National Monuments, and a host of other places. Though lots听of people intuit that the 听sites officially called national parks are somehow 鈥渂etter鈥 than those with other designations, it鈥檚 not really true鈥攖he reason for different designations is complicated, sometimes听reflecting听slightly different management for the site or just the politics involved.
No matter what designation the park has, each is managed by the National Park Service with a "conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."
This听mandate is important, because it separates national parks from听other public lands. For example, lands run听by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are managed partly for public enjoyment, but also for听agricultural harvest and mineral development. On the other end of the spectrum, lands in our National Wilderness Preservation System, which spans multiple agencies, are meant to remain 鈥渦ntrammeled by man鈥 rather than for public enjoyment.听
That makes听national parks听the best of听both worlds for a birder: an area that is managed to protect the natural environment while also providing access to the public.
What's most incredible about our national parks is just how much they have to offer in terms of habitat and wildlife diversity.听I recently made a list of the for my day job, as well as a ranked list of all (only 282 parks have eBird Hotspots, as I learned). The top five parks show just how varied the听American landscape is: No.听5,听Cape Cod National Seashore,听Massachusetts听(339 species); No. 4,听Death Valley National Park, California听(357 species); No. 3,听Big Bend National Park, Texas (360 species); No. 2,听Gateway National Recreation Area, New Jersey听(375 species); No.听1,听Point Reyes National Seashore, California听(405 species). 听
The听parks with the highest species totals weren't听all necessarily the ones I expected, either. Five of the top 10听parks听were national seashores, which makes sense because most of them contain fresh and saltwater, forest, fields, and various other habitats that attract different kinds of species. Neither the Grand Canyon nor Yellowstone, for all their glory, have coastlines, and so they听just won鈥檛 ever have as many species as Point Reyes or Cape Hatteras National Seashores.
Some parks were real surprises. How does a place called Death Valley end up with the fourth most species of any park? It turns out that one location inside the park, a hotel and resort area called Furnace Creek, acts as a true desert oasis. The Furnace Creek hotspot has recorded a staggering听, among the highest species counts for any single hotspot in the country. An : the Furnace Creek area is the only green, tree-covered spot for miles around. Birds flying over the desert zero in on Furnace Creek as a place to drink and feed, and birders are there to count them.
Other parks jumped out at me for their size. Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, and Cabrillo National Monument, numbers 17 and 18 on the list, respectively, are both tiny parks with听less than 150 acres each. There are parking lots that big at the Grand Canyon (probably not, but I鈥檓 trying to make a point here), and yet听both have amazing bird diversity.
Their coastal locations are the reason why. Fort McHenry is on the East Coast, in Baltimore, and interprets the history of the War of 1812. Cabrillo National Monument is all the way on the southern tip of the America鈥檚 Pacific Coast, in San Diego, and marks the spot of the first European visit to the Pacific Coast in 1582. Both of these parks are on the ends of peninsulas, which can act as staging areas during migration, and also provide great spots for ocean听birding. The fact that both of these parks are also connected to major cities means that the 鈥淐entral Park Effect,鈥 where urban parks attract听birds unable to land elsewhere in the concrete jungle, likely helps these parks get more species.
Putting these听lists听together was fun, but I听don鈥檛 want to give the impression that birders should only go to the parks with the highest species totals. Though their听overall species lists might be lower,听large national parks like the Grand Canyon and听Yellowstone are听incredible places to see birds in their natural habitat. I鈥檝e stood in awe and watched California Condors听soaring 听in Pinnacles National Park (they can听also be found in听the Grand Canyon and Zion National Parks), just as they did for millennia听before humans came along. I鈥檝e seen Roseate Spoonbills and thousands of other wading birds听hunt through Everglades National Park. I鈥檝e twice snuck along ridges in Rocky Mountain National Park looking (unsuccessfully)听for White-tailed Ptarmigan (nemesis bird!), but they鈥檙e听there,听and I鈥檒l be back. Seeing birds where they actually live, not just as migrants or vagrants, is an essential birding experience. It helps you get to know them听as species, not just check-marks.
I鈥檝e visited more than 100听national park sites, and submitted eBird checklists for most of those. Visiting national parks has taken me to the far corners of the nation听and shown me new birds at each stop,听from my first Brown Noddys at Dry Tortugas National Park at the end of the Florida Keys to Kittlitz鈥檚 Murrelets swimming at the mouth of a glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska.听Our national park system really is something special, so be sure to celebrate the parks听and the birds they protect this week鈥攁s well as every other opportunity you get.听