By Gus Saltonstall
Flaco, the famous Eurasian eagle-owl who escaped the Central Park Zoo earlier this year, was spotted and photographed on the Upper West Side this week.
Upper West Sider Jacqueline Emery was able to photograph Flaco on a fire escape in the low West 80s on Monday.
“It was an absolute thrill to see Flaco in my neighborhood; he looked so healthy and relaxed,” she told West Side Rag.
Emery, who also posted the photographs on X (formerly Twitter), gave a hat tip to the “kind UWS couple who invited me into their backyard so I could visit Flaco.”
“Love your Flaco compositions, and your consistent knack for capturing him looking directly into our souls is flawless,” one person said about Emery’s photo, while another commenter added that they particularly loved the urban shots of Flaco up against buildings and other city infrastructure.
Flaco’s Upper West Side spotting on Monday coincides with reports that the owl was seen and heard by multiple people in the neighborhood this past weekend, after there was worry that Flaco had permanently left the Upper West Side for the Lower East Side.
In Upper West Side fashion, though, Flaco quickly returned from his trip downtown.
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Keep an eye on your small pets if they are outside!
(Darn that autocorrect!) Flaco only* hunts *rats!
No worries. Flaco only huntsman rats.
I worry about the rats he’s eating–while they don’t generally use rat poison in the parks to protect the birds, as we all know, they sure do elsewhere in the UWS.
Properties along CPW and Fifth avenue use copious amounts of rodenticide. Just walking along either avenue look carefully and you’ll see bait stations. They’re often camouflaged by fake rock looking things, but never the less…
Barry the Owl died from ingesting rodent poison. As have countless other raptors who feed in or near city’s parks.
https://www.thecity.nyc/2021/10/18/what-is-killing-hawks-owls-ducks-squirrels-in-nyc-parks/
Barry the owl was killed by a park truck inside the park and did not die of rat poisoning. And, Pale Male, the city hawk lived over 25 years on a diet of rats, so there’s that…
When they did the necropsy on Barry, they found a VERY high level of rat poison in his body. If not for the truck, he would have died from that.
Barry/Barrie had high levels of pesticide in her system, it was found ina necropsy. It contributed to her death by affecting her reflexes and possibly her sight. That’s what was told to us birders. Rat poison IS a worry for Flaco!
Well, IIRC Barry had high levels of rodenticide in his system when he was in the crash, which may have contributed to the accident.
Love Flaco but really hope he doesn’t go after our rodenticide-soaked UWS street rats. At least the parks don’t poison his favorite food. (Not that I think folks on a rat-infested block shouldn’t do what they have to, but that’s another issue.) I think I read that he likes as many as 4 rats a day. I have a feeling any feral cats and even small raccoons of the neighborhood are in some danger from those “murder mitten” feet.
One of the thrills of the North Woods in Central Park is to hear his hoot. You don’t even need binoculars. What a majestic creature. Kudos to his fantastic photographer.
Thrilling! My heart leaps every time I read about this bird 🙂
I suspect there are more and fatter rats on the Upper East Side?
Those photos are gorgeous. Thank you for taking them and sharing with us!
I wonder if rodenticides could be laced with something that goes into the rats and is distasteful to birds?
They don’t consume the poison directly, but via the flesh of the rats.
A Very Beautiful and Very Inspiring Story. Kindly keep us informed of Flaco’s where abouts in the future.
Flaco4Life
The Russian lady should bring Yoll over to give Flaco some lovin’
I heard Flaco hooting early Saturday morning, circa 2-4am, and it seemed to be coming from W 86-87th between CPW and Columbus. I used youtube to confirm it was the call of a eurasian eagle owl. Have a listen so you can keep an ear out for him:
https://youtu.be/ynl-L8L3Ui8?feature=shared