Central Park, New York.
Covering an area of 843 acres in downtown Manhattan and is a wonderful place to birdwatch if in New York City. Most favored is the Ramble, a wooded area near the Great Lawn. In late April and May, you will find plenty of birders exploring the pathways for flycatchers, vireos, thrushes, warblers, sparrows, and anything else that might drop in. As many are locals, check with them to see what is being seen and where.
Elizabeth A. Morton National Wildlife Refuge.
North east of Southampton on Long Island, this refuge boasts exceptionally diverse habitats including bay beach, a brackish pond, a freshwater pond, kettle holes, tidal flats, saltmarsh, freshwater marsh, shrub, grasslands, maritime oak forest, and red cedar. Good concentrations of ducks can be found, particularly in the winter months. In spring and fall the refuge provides important habitat for shorebirds, raptors and songbirds as they navigate the coastline during migration.
Island Cottage Woods.
Just northwest of Rochester on the Lake Ontario shore in the Braddock Bay area, this small wood is one of the few spots on the west lakeshore with a large growth of trees, and provides a resting grounds for many migrating species. Many regard this as the warbler hotspot of Rochester and it is one of the most travelled-to locations during spring. On a good day in mid-May, over 20 species of warblers and close to 100 overall bird species are possible in a morning's birding.
Jamaica Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
Nestled between Brooklyn and the JFK Airport, this refuge is another extremely convenient site for birdwatchers from New York. The refuge is reached by taking Cross Bay Boulevard south from Belt Parkway. It is a wonderful wetland area that often attracts rarities. Very good during migration, spring brings large numbers of warblers and songbirds while the fall is noted for migrating hawks and raptors, songbirds and warblers and great numbers of waterfowl. Over 330 species have been recorded here.
Niagara Falls.
At it’s best during November and December when thousands of gulls and terns congregate around the Falls and rapids. Rarities are always showing up each winter. Approximately 100 different varieties of water birds have been recorded along the river.
Rockaway Peninsula
Rockaway Peninsula extends along the southwest tip of Long Island. Much of it is included in Gateway National Recreation Area. It is an excellent site for migrating birds. There are three locations recommended to birdwatch here. Jacob Riis Park which has good both scrub and good open areas. Fort Tilden which is a good raptor watch point and also has more dense woodlands and Breezy Point which is an area of sand dunes and coastal shrub. Birds to look for include waders, raptors, flycatchers and warblers in passage, loons, grebes and ducks in winter and terns in summer. Carolina Wren and Sharp-tailed Sparrow are resident and Brown Thrasher and Eastern Towhee spend most of the year here.
Shawangunk Grasslands NWR.
Located in the valley below the Shawangunk Mountains near the Hamlet of Wallkill near the Town of Shawangunk, Ulster County. This is on of the top grassland sites in the state, and bird species that use the refuge as a nesting, wintering, or migratory stop-over site include northern harrier, short-eared owl, upland sandpiper, horned lark, grasshopper, Henslows, savannah and vesper sparrow, eastern meadowlark, and bobolink.