A snowy owl paid a rare and possibly unprecedented visit to Central Park on Wednesday, delighting veteran bird-watchers and other New Yorkers who desperately just need a new hot bird in their life right now.
Nearly 100 people gathered to catch a glimpse of the young snowy owl, which was first spotted in a fenced off baseball field in the park's North Meadow at around 9 a.m. on Wednesday. Members of the city's birder community said they never expected to see the raptor in the heart of Manhattan.
"It’s a mega-rarity," said Kellye Rosenheim, the director of development at New York City Audubon. "This is a very important sighting. It’s extremely rare in Manhattan."
Birders headed to Central Park when word of the owl got out.
The birds are native to the Arctic tundra, but are known to migrate south during winters, occasionally in great numbers, as part of a process known as irruption. They typically stop to hunt and rest in places that resemble their homes, such as airports or beaches. David Barrett, who runs the Manhattan Bird Alert account, suggested the bird likely mistook the field's sand for a beach.
"Snowy owls tend to fly right past Manhattan," said Barrett. "It's a historic occurrence."
Yijia Chen, an NYU student, put off a pile of work to come see the owl, describing it as one of his "bucket list" birds. While others have spotted the snowy owl around Jones Beach, Chen hasn't yet made the trip because he doesn't have a car. "You don’t get to see the snowy owl in New York City," he said. "I saw it and I was like I had to come."
While the Central Park snowy owl was mobbed by some crows when it first arrived in the park, the bird seemed to be enjoying its Manhattan stop-off. If it finds food and isn't disturbed, Rosenheim said the owl could stay through February, and possibly March. "Be respectful that this owl needs this resting time in order to survive," she said.
Deborah Shapiro, an Upper West Side resident, was among the group lined up from a safe distance, behind a wire fence, to observe the snowy owl.
"I'd seen one before but I had to go out to Jones Beach to see it," she told Gothamist. "I cant believe this bird is in my neighborhood and it's gorgeous and it's happy."
