Community Corner

'Mega-Rare' Snowy Owl Appears In Central Park, Wowing New Yorkers

The unusual visitor from the Arctic was spotted in Central Park's North Meadow on Wednesday, attracting hundreds of spectators.

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A snowy owl was spotted in Central Park on Wednesday, the latest — and maybe the rarest — wild visitor to attract attention in Manhattan this winter.

After hearing whispers Wednesday morning about a possible sighting, birder David Barrett, who runs the popular Manhattan Bird Alert Twitter account, headed to the North Meadow ballfields to see for himself. He confirmed the sighting shortly after 10:30 a.m.

The owl, which Barrett called "a mega-rarity for Central Park," was standing in the middle of the ballfields — likely an appealing spot for the bird, since the species favors flat, sandy areas to watch for prey.

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Central Park rangers quickly arrived Wednesday morning to protect the raptor, warning onlookers to stay off the fenced-off ballfields and avoid frightening what Barrett called a "wondrous visitor from the north."

The park rangers set up a scope, giving well over 100 visitors throughout the day the chance to take smartphone photos of the owl from a safe distance.

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Snowy owls spend their summers in the Arctic, where they breed, and are known to venture south during the winter into New York, New England and the Upper Midwest, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which describes the species as "one of the few birds that can get even non-birders to come out for a look."

Wednesday's sighting may be the first in Central Park since 1890, according to Paul Sweet, a zoologist at the American Museum of Natural History, who dug up records of the snowy owl's century-old appearance.

In 2013, controversy erupted after the Port Authority began to kill snowy owls that took up residence near JFK Airport, amid fears that they would be hit by airplanes and cause crashes. The culling practice was upheld by a federal court in 2016.

More than six hours after it was first seen, the owl remained standing on the ballfields Wednesday afternoon, appearing mildly bothered by the American crows that surrounded the unwelcome visitor to their turf.

At night, the owl will likely try to hunt — ducks and rats are among Central Park's most appetizing offerings for owls — before continuing south, in search of better food, until it hits the Atlantic Ocean.

"It probably ends up in Brooklyn or Queens, or it might even keep going farther east and end up in Long Island," Barrett said, adding the New Jersey coast as another potential destination.

Cooped-up New Yorkers have lavished unprecedented amounts of attention on wild visitors in recent months, including a seal in the East River, a rare western tanager and white-fronted goose on Manhattan's East Side, and other owls in Riverside and Central Parks — as well as the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.

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