Your Backyard Is Wild Read Free Page B

really need the binoculars—the pigeons were perched on a corner of the building a few stories beneath them.
    Benjamin told Gabe what he knew about the birds. “You probably think they’re pests,” he said, “since there are so many of them in the city. But did you know they were brought to this country by European settlers, who ate them? They were considered a treat!”
    “Wow,” Gabe said. “That’s interesting. But, you know, the big thing up here is the view.”
    Obviously Gabe had never been on vacation with the Baxters. They liked to learn about the local animals wherever they went. “I just think it’s amazing to see the birds from up here, not from down below,” Benjamin said, taking the binoculars back. As he turned around, he saw a tour group walking toward them. They were looking and pointing, and he heard someone mention the words “peregrine falcon.”
    “Did you hear those people talking?” Benjamin asked Gabe and Lucy. “Somebody over there just spotted a falcon!” he exclaimed.
    Benjamin found his mom and told her about the falcon—then she went off in search of someone who could tell them more. It turned out that everyone who worked at the Empire State Building knew about the wildlife in the New York skies.

    “Oh, yes,” a woman in a uniform confirmed. “Peregrine falcons use the building as a hunting ground. They perch on the observation deck and wait for smaller birds to fly by. Yellow-billed cuckoos, orioles, warblers, and many other birds are disoriented by the towers’ lights at night. The falcons can catch them off guard!”
    “What about pigeons?” Benjamin asked. “Do falcons hunt them, too?” The ones he’d seen would be easy for a falcon to catch.
    “Oh, yes,” the woman confirmed. “In cities, falcons help keep the pigeon population under control. Pigeons know the territory well, but falcons have superior speed. When they hunt, they fly very high, then dive down sharply toward their prey. When the falcon hits its target, it comes back and grabs it in midair. Pigeons better watch out!”
    She also said that the building’s lights were dimmed during certain weeks of the spring and fall, because the Empire State Building was directly in the path of flocks of migrating birds. “If the lights are at full brightness, the birds crash into the building,” she said. “White-throated sparrows and common yellowthroats are some of the birds most at risk.”
    Benjamin quickly sketched a falcon in his notebook. Then he scribbled all the information down and tried to remember the details for when he went back to school. These were things that not many people knew about the Empire State Building, not even a native New Yorker like Gabe.
     
    Back on the street, Gabe insisted that they all buy hot dogs from a sidewalk vendor for lunch. “Another New York experience,” he said. Then the families took the subway back to Brooklyn. They didn’t see any rats this time, but Benjamin did hear some amazing music from the musicians in the station. Their catchy beat echoed off the tiles and made the station seem almost like a dance club!
    The day was growing hotter, and the grown-ups didn’t feel like doing any more sightseeing. When Gabe then suggested the playground back at the Promenade, the adults were relieved. They sat at a picnic table in a shady spot, while the kids took turns on the monkey bars.
    Waiting for his turn, Benjamin walked over to a sandbox. It looked like it hadn’t been used in a while. Sticks and leaves were scattered over the sand, and some big rocks were stuck in the middle of it. Benjamin picked up one to move it. Beneath the rock, a centipede squiggled in the sand, and Benjamin picked it up.
    “Gabe, come here!” he called, ready to give a tour of his own. “Look!”
    Benjamin dropped the centipede into Gabe’s open hand and he didn’t look that thrilled about holding it. “What’s that?” Gabe asked, a bit suspiciously. “A baby snake?”
    “Nope,”