Special Event

As night falls across Green-Wood, step through the iconic Gothic Arch and into an unforgettable experience of ethereal sights and sounds. Guided by the thousands of flickering candles, you’ll wander along the Cemetery’s winding paths and have chance encounters with musicians, moving images, performance artists, and storytellers. It all takes place against the stunning backdrop of one New York City’s most historic and storied landscapes, lit by the light of the silvery moon.

It’s a little known fact that the common house sparrow was introduced to North America right here at Green-Wood. In 1854, about 100 were brought from England and released in the Cemetery (as well as along the Narrows) as natural predators of the inchworms that were destroying trees throughout the city. Today there are approximately seventy-four million sparrows in the United States, and even veteran birders say they are among the most difficult to distinguish. Are you ready to take the sparrow challenge? From the American Tree Sparrow to the White-crowned Sparrow, this course will focus on the seventeen regularly-occurring New World sparrow species around the Big Apple, breaking down the basics of size, shape, and behavior.

Before our gates open to the general public, birding expert Rob Jett leads these peaceful Sunday morning walking tours to discover the birds that make Green-Wood their home – at least temporarily. By September, offspring of these nesting birds will be on their own. Returning warblers will be in their less flamboyant fall plumage. Large numbers of blackbirds, flycatchers, sparrows, vireos, and swallows will also be passing through. By October, waterfowl are returning, and we’ll look for raptors heading south. November will bring back our overwintering feathered denizens from the north.