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Osprey Nest Spotted on Rejuvenated Site of World's Largest Landfill

By Nicholas Rizzi | July 8, 2016 3:47pm | Updated on July 11, 2016 8:31am
 About a half a dozen of of the previously endangered osprey bird has made nest in Staten Island's Freshkills Park.
Freshkills Ospreys
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TRAVIS — An osprey has nested at the rejuvenated site of Staten Island's notorious landfill.

Freshkills Park tweeted a photo Friday of the sea hawk's nest in a closed section of the under-construction park.

The nest was spotted during a "Discovery Day" bird-watching tour that the Parks Department held with the New York City Audubon Society.

The ospreys are one of several species of birds to return to Freshkills after the world's largest landfill was closed in 2001. They include the threatened grasshopper sparrow.

"It really shows that this is a viable and successful habitat for these species," Cait Field, manager for science and research at the park, previously told DNAinfo New York.

"It takes them a few years to find it, but now that they found the spot they keep coming back. It's a good habitat, they're not out there looking for a new one."

Aside from grasshopper sparrows, researchers have also spotted American woodchucks, blue grosbeaks and a pair of the rare upland sandpipers.

Ospreys were listed as an endangered species in 1976 because so many were poisoned by pesticides. They have bounced back since the product was banned and were downgraded to "Special Concern" in 1999, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

The park is opening in sections and the city expects the entire green space to be open by 2025.