A family of rare barn owls are drawing attention on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and gaining fame from their hooting and screeching.
asserted
family → draw → hooting
New York City has been delighted by the company of its latest celebrities: multiple barn owls nested in a water tower near Central Park.
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City → delight → Park
This is the first documented instance of barn owls nesting in Manhattan in modern history, according to one expert, and the owls have attracted nightly crowds of people eager to get a glimpse of the elusive birds.
uncertain
owls → document → birds
'It was, like, totally shocking,' Andrew Farnsworth, a migration ecologist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, said of the barn owls.
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Farnsworth → say → owls
'To the best of our knowledge, like the collective birding knowledge, there hasn’t been a nest in, you know, in Manhattan, at least in recorded history,' Farnsworth told The Associated Press.
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Farnsworth → know → Press
Word of the barn owl family didn’t get around until last week, when Elisabeth Williams, an Upper West Side resident, notified a local news outlet on October 6.
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Williams → get → October
Williams and her husband saw multiple owls at the water tower atop a building on West 75th Street.
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Williams → see → Street
The couple had previously seen a single owl on an apartment windowsill a few days earlier and were shocked even then, Williams recalled.
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Williams → see → windowsill
A family of rare barn owls are drawing attention in the Upper West Side and gaining fame from their hooting and screeching
Manhattan has been delighted by the company of its latest celebrities: multiple barn owls nested in a water tower atop a water tank near Central Park
Barn owl sightings in New York City parks are very rare, according to the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation
'
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sightings → draw → Parks
In a place like Manhattan, you normally really have to go out of your way to encounter nature,' she said.
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she → have → nature
'And here it was, just sort of right outside our window,' said Williams.
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Williams → say → window
It’s not the first time that birds have captivated New Yorkers.
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birds → ’ → Yorkers
Residents have fallen in love with American woodcocks, which are known to stop in Midtown Manhattan’s Bryant Park every year as they migrate north in early spring.
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they → fall → spring
And after Flaco the Eurasian eagle-owl died in 2024, dozens of mournful fans gathered to say goodbye to the beloved creature who flew around Manhattan and became a joy to many after someone let him out of his zoo enclosure the previous year.
Then there was Pale Male, a red-tailed hawk who nested above Fifth Avenue for three decades before dying in 2023.
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who → die → 2023
Barn owl sightings in New York City parks are very rare, according to the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.
uncertain
sightings → accord → Parks
New York is at the northern fringe of the barn owl’s range, and the barn owl population has declined 'at an alarming rate' over time, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
uncertain
population → decline → Conservation
Photographers and casual onlookers have gathered on the street on a nightly basis to spot the owls
There are believed to be two adult owls, and some photographers have claimed to have seen six fledglings
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photographers → gather → fledglings
The Daily Mail reached out to the NYC Bird Alliance for comment regarding the overall safety of the barn owls
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Mail → reach → owls
There’s lots of excitement among New Yorkers, both birders and non-birders alike, about these owls because owls really capture the attention,' said Jessica Wilson, executive director of NYC Bird Alliance.
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Wilson → ’ → Alliance
They’re magical, they’re nocturnal, they are secretive, they’re not commonly seen, especially on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and to have this chance to see these birds is really thrilling.'
Photographers and casual onlookers have gathered on the street on a nightly basis to spot the owls.
'I’ve only seen one barn owl ever, and that was in California,' said Val Coleman, a retired New York City resident who was on the Upper West Side earlier this week trying to spot the owls.
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who → ’re → owls
'At dusk, we hope they will come out to hunt.
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they → hope → dusk
We hope they don’t eat poisoned rats with rodenticide in ’em.'
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they → hope → ’em
David Barrett, a Manhattan-based birder who runs the popular social media account, Manhattan Bird Alert, told the AP he observed at least one adult barn owl and five fledglings at the water tower.
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he → base → tower
He’s also said he has seen an adult owl carrying rodents back to the water tower.
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owl → say → tower
There are believed to be two adult owls, and some photographers have claimed to have seen six fledglings, Barrett added.
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Barrett → believe → fledglings
'Having one barn owl is a rarity, but it’s not national news.
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it → have → owl
Having a family, for the first time ever, breeding in Manhattan in recorded history, that’s special news,' Barrett said.
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Barrett → have → history
The Daily Mail reached out to the NYC Bird Alliance for comment regarding the overall safety of the barn owls.
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Mail → reach → owls
The Aporia
