Barn owl family nests in Manhattan for the first time on record, drawing nightly crowds

A family of American barn owls has taken up residence in a water tower atop a building on West 75th Street near Central Park West, and the birds have become Manhattan's latest celebrities, drawing nightly crowds to the Upper West Side. One expert says it is the first documented instance of barn owls nesting in Manhattan in recorded history.

Andrew Farnsworth, a migration ecologist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, called the discovery "totally shocking," adding that to the best of the collective birding knowledge there has not been a nest in Manhattan at least in recorded history.

How New Yorkers found out

Word of the family did not spread until last week, when Upper West Side resident Elisabeth Williams told a local news outlet on Oct. 6 that she and her husband had seen multiple owls on the water tower. Days earlier the couple had spotted a single owl on an apartment windowsill, which Williams said was shocking in itself. "In a place like Manhattan, you normally really have to go out of your way to encounter nature," she said. "And here it was, just sort of right outside our window."

David Barrett, a Manhattan birder who runs the Manhattan Bird Alert social media account, said he has observed at least one adult barn owl and five fledglings at the water tower, and has seen an adult carrying rodents back to it. Two adults are believed to be present, and some photographers say they have counted six fledglings, he added. "Having one barn owl is a rarity, but it's not national news. Having a family, for the first time ever, breeding in Manhattan in recorded history, that's special news," Barrett said.

Screeching before sightings

Some residents heard the owls before they saw them. Thomas Obersteiner said he began hearing strange screeching and wailing one evening in mid-September that lasted two or three weeks. He and his wife twice rushed into their children's bedroom after mistaking the sound for a child in pain, he said, and he only realised it came from owls after seeing a news report. Farnsworth said the screech is typical for barn owls and can feel like a "horror movie kind of experience."

Obersteiner, who says his roof deck is probably the best spot in town to watch the birds, has been letting nature photographers use it almost every night; 20 people gathered there one night last week.

Rare for the city

Barn owl sightings in New York City parks are very rare, according to the city's Department of Parks & Recreation. New York sits at the northern fringe of the species' range, and the state Department of Environmental Conservation says the barn owl population has declined "at an alarming rate."

New Yorkers have been captivated by birds before. American woodcocks stop in Bryant Park each spring, Flaco the Eurasian eagle-owl drew mourners after his death in 2024, and Pale Male, a red-tailed hawk, nested above Fifth Avenue for three decades before dying in 2023. Jessica Wilson, executive director of NYC Bird Alliance, said owls capture attention because they are magical, nocturnal and secretive. Williams, who was not a bird watcher before, said she thinks she and her husband are about to become birders.

Source: NPR News.