The Eurasian-Eagle owl is a species normally found in mountainous forests in Europe and Asia.
In 2010 a Eurasian-eagle owl was brought to New York’s Central Park Zoo. They named him Flaco.
On February 3, 2023, someone cut a hole in Flaco’s enclosure and he escaped.
The zoo keepers tracked him to the park. They try to catch him with bait and recordings of eagle owls. But the park has many rats and Flaco survived nicely thank you very much.
And he’s been surviving ever since while entertaining the residents of New York City.
He is a magnificent bird and much admired. For example, one evening, Robert Herbst-Paparne was on her sofa reading with her cat, Lucy Goose (great name by the way).
Suddenly there was a thump outside her flat on the Lower East Side. She looked up and saw Flaco’s back while he was sitting on an air conditioning unit. She said that she “saw this big proof of feathers”.
At the time she didn’t know what she was looking at and then learned that it was Flaco. The famous owl who had escaped from Central Park Zoo.
She added: “I was staring straight into Flaco’s rear end.”
She is one of many New Yorkers who have seen Flaco through their windows. Another person is Nan Knighton, a poet on the Upper West Side. She spent several hours apparently talking to Flaco and said that “He was the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen”, in an interview with the WABC radio station.
Flaco’s adventures have been chronicled in social media on the Manhattan Bird Alert channel.
He was spotted in Central Park until October 31 and then he travelled south. They believe he was looking for a mate and he failed in that task and so returned last month. He spends his days resting in building courtyards outside the park.
Apparently, he was harassed in the park by crows and blue jays who tried to drive him away. He finds peace and quiet and some warmth away from the wind in the backyards of New York City.
He remains free. I’m sure there are many people who want him to live free for the remainder of his life.
