Celebrate Black Birders Week 2026 (May 24-May 30) with NYC Bird Alliance! Black Birders Week was created in 2020 by the BlackAFinSTEM Collective to celebrate and empower Black individuals in nature, promoting a more inclusive, diverse, and welcoming space.  This year's theme is "Flyways & Freedom: Advocacy, Action, and the Future". Learn more at BAFiS website.

Join NYC Bird Alliance and NYS Department of Parks for a FREE exclusive guided hike after the park closes its gates. Join the park educators in hiking the trails and watching the sunset from the highest point in Jamaica Bay! The largest state park in New York City, Shirley Chisholm State Park is named after the trailblazing Shirley Chisholm—Brooklyn native, first African American Congresswoman, and the first woman and African American to run for President. Built on what was once a landfill, the park is now a thriving spot full of wildlife, including hawks, waterfowl, wetlands, and native plants.

Learn about the birds in the park, and experience the changes that happen from day to night.

Register with our partners - here! (Opens May 20th). Free. Binoculars and flashlights will be avaliable to borrow, but feel free to bring your own!

Accessibility: This park contains mostly gravel trails of different lengths and inclinations. Restrooms, parking, and a water-filling station can be found near the meeting location.

Directions: The BM2, BM5, B82, B82-SBS, and B83 buses all stop near the Pennsylvania Entrance. For more details about Shirley Chisholm State Park's facilities and how to get there, please visit the New York State Parks website.

Photo: Shirley Chisholm State Park offers the opportunity to see birds like this Osprey. Credit: LeRoy VanHee.