Eibs Pond natural area

In 1987, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation designated Eibs Pond and the surrounding area as protected wetlands. Two years later, it became a New York City park. The 16.5-acre Eibs Pond Park is located on the serpentine ridge that forms the bedrock spine of Staten Island. Serpentine bedrock is associated with unusual plant communities in the very few locations it occurs, which in the Eastern US includes areas in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Staten Island.

Eibs Pond lies below rolling hills covered by blue stem grass (Schizachyrium scoparium) that once offered sweeping views of New York harbor. The clay-bottomed pond itself covers three acres, making it the largest kettle pond in New York City. Kettle depressions formed from glacial activity occurring 15,000 years ago. Because the only source of water for the pond is rain and runoff, the water level can vary significantly from season to season and year to year. Today the pond hosts a wide variety of water birds and wetland plants. The pond is fringed by a cattail (Typha sp.) and arrow arum (Peltandra virginica) marsh, and bulrushes (Scirpus sp.), cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea), sassafras (Sassafrass albidum), and fragrant water lilies (Nymphaea odorata) all thrive here. Snowy egrets (Egretta thula), bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus), large-mouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu), painted turtles (Chrysemys picta picta), and muskrats (Ondatra zibethica) all live in or use the pond.

Starting in late June, visitors to Eibs Pond Park can often enjoy a glimpse of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) as they travel through the city. The monarch butterfly lay their eggs on milkweed (Asclepiadaceae) plants and die, entrusting their offspring to fend for themselves. As the larvae gorge themselves on the milkweed leaves, they accumulate the milkweed's toxic cardiac glycosides and become poisonous to birds and other predators. Monarch butterflies from New York City begin migration in September and travel as much as 2,100 miles to reach their winter destination in central Mexico, in the state of Michoacan, by the end of October.