14 September 2025
Now that Nick Liadis’ Bird Lab has been banding birds for five years in the Pittsburgh area, an analysis of spring and fall data shows the similarities and differences between the three banding sites:
- Hays Woods in the City of Pittsburgh
- A suburban site in the South Hills
- A rural site in Butler County.
The results were surprising. As the Post-Gazette reports, during fall migration Hays Woods has more birds and more species than both the suburban and rural sites. The Connecticut warbler pictured at top, banded there last October, is one such example of autumn bird diversity at Hays Woods.
Here are aerial maps of the three locations as screenshots from Google Maps. Notice the texture of the surrounding land. Hays Woods is a green oasis in the city.
Nick explains:
“The birds are probably zeroing in on Hays Woods because it’s a large blip of green in an urban area,” he said.
“When daybreak comes, they are looking for the best habitat. Hays Woods is higher up in elevation with forest, power-line cuts that are meadows and woodland edges.”
In the fall, various species of migrating birds gravitate to open areas near power lines flanked by trees and brush, Liadis noted.
— Post-Gazette: City birds outnumber suburban and country cousins in this count
Unsurprisingly, Hays Woods is not as popular during spring migration as the rural Butler County site.
Fall is the time to celebrate birds at Hays Woods (and Frick Park). Here are two confusing fall warblers I saw banded at Hays a year ago.
Learn more about Bird Lab and the city/suburbs/country mix in Mary Ann Thomas’ article at the Post-Gazette: City birds outnumber suburban and country cousins in this count.