The two Long-eared Owls, who had been seen hunting in the Compost Heap area on previous nights, choose to use the slope around the rear of the Butterfly Meadow to look for rodents before flying across the road at 103rd and into the darkness of the Loch.
Fall, Winter and early spring usually have sparatic sightings of native owls visiting Central Park. Except for one sighting of a Great Horned Owl in flight, we had none so far this season. So it was great that we had a pair of Long-eared Owls arrive in the park.
But because we’ve had so few sightings and because of publicity about these owls they were quickly over birded. On the first weekend, there were over thirty people surrounding their roost tree. So, I like many photographers who love owls, choose not to post their pictures of these owls until after they left the park.
I arrived after having dinner with friends to hear Flaco from West End Avenue around 88th Street. I couldn’t find him, as his sound echos making it hard to find him, but I did see him fly out towards 90th Street. He hooted for hours from 250 West 90th, using three locations on the building. My video from the night is short. The street noise from Broadway and the questions from many curious New Yorkers, made if difficult to record him hooting.
Flaco continues to roost and hoot after fly out around West End Avenue in the upper 80s and lower 90s. He spent most of the evening on 250 West 90th again, but also explored a few water tanks and other perches. He was in a fog bank for about twenty minutes and in one of the pictures below you can see his missing and damaged primary feathers on his right wing.
I heard Flaco early in the evening hooting from near 565 West End Avenue, but couldn’t find him. I explored the neighborhood but didn’t find him and decided to check out other location he’s been visiting and get dinner. I then retuned to West End Avenue and found him on 250 West 90th Street. He hooted for about twenty minutes before he flew to a building at 91st and Riverside before flying south. I couldn’t relocate him.
I have been visiting the Upper West Side on a number of nights and have missed seeing Flaco by an hour or so. He’s got a much larger range now, and it’s easy to be in the right place but the wrong day or time. So, I was delighted that as soon as I got off the M86-SBS bus at the last stop, I immediately heard him. His hoots echo so it took me awhile to find him, but soon I saw him switching between 535 West End Avenue at 86th and 565 West End Avenue at 87th.
Both of these perches have a direct view of the Peregrine Flacon scrape at 86th and West End Avenue. His hooting at this location is a cause of concern. Eurasian Eagle-Owls are known to take over Peregrine Falcon nests in Europe and this has always been a concern with Flaco. (A paper from Germany discusses these issues in great detail.)
While it is rarely discussed on social media, Flaco did actively interfere with the nesting Red-tailed Hawks in Central Park last spring. This included harassment of the San Remo pair, when they tried to relocate their nest to Tanner’s Spring, the pair on Central Park South and the pair at the Museum of the City of New York. While many factors, including the death of at least two adult Red-tailed Hawks (one being Pale Male), contributed to the lack of any breeding raptors in Central Park in 2023, Flaco’s arrival certainly had an impact.
How far will Flaco interfere with Manhattan’s breeding hawks and falcons in 2024? Will his instincts express themselves further or will they remain dormant since he will never find a mate in North America?
Flaco isn’t just a cute, photogenic owl exploring Manhattan. He’s an invasive species, who is an apex predator. His roosting locations on the Upper West Side are very close to two American Kestrel nests, one Peregrine Falcon nest (which is protected by Endangered status in New York State, and has Protected status nationally), and at least one Red-tailed Hawk nest. While Flaco appears to be happy with his rodent based diet, he could easily kill nestlings to declare territory later this year.
Those who want Flaco’s release to be a happy fantasy of an “owl living his best life” may be in for a surprise later this year. As my tour guide in Denali National Park said to me while describing the habits of bear who ate other bear’s cubs, “nature isn’t warm and fuzzy.”
