A Family of Barn Owls Has Moved Into New York City’s Upper West Side, Perhaps the First to Nest in Manhattan in Modern History

The feathered residents have attracted lots of attention, as their species is considered an extremely rare sight in the city

Sara Hashemi | Daily Correspondent

October 13, 2026 3:25 p.m.

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The newest celebrity family in New York City isn’t a group of Hollywood stars or musicians, but a posse of barn owls that have made a water tower in the Upper West Side their home. Since the animals’ arrival in the neighborhood, birders have been flocking to catch a glimpse of the nocturnal residents.

Experts say that these barn owls are the first in modern history known to have nested in Manhattan—a welcome event given the species’ rapid population decline in New York over the past few decades.

“The presence of a nest right in the middle of the country’s biggest city is really exciting,” says Jessica Wilson, the executive director of the NYC Bird Alliance, to Nick Caloway at CBS News New York.

It all began with a series of screeches in September, recalls resident Elisabeth Williams to Christopher Maag at the New York Times. For weeks, Williams and her husband heard the same sound from the patio of their apartment. “Its screeching is quite loud, and we were able to first identify the bird using the Merlin bird ID app,” she writes in an email to the West Side Rag’s Gus Saltonstall.

On October 3, Williams was finally able to snap a photo of the loud creature, confirming that it was a barn owl. She named it Scotty.

It turned out that Scotty wasn’t flying solo. As many as eight barn owls—two adults and up to six juveniles—have now been spotted at a hole in a water tower, reports CBS News. “It’s a truly special experience ... that people can come out to a public space like this and look at these owls at night,” David Barrett, a birder who runs the social media account Manhattan Bird Alert, tells the outlet.

The family’s arrival is great news, says Wilson to the Times. Barn owls are extremely rare sights in New York City, though there have been occasional sightings  over the past few years. The state is at the northern limit of the species’ range, and their habitat has decreased dramatically due to land development. To Paul Sweet, an ornithologist and collection manager at the American Museum of Natural History, the Upper West Side owls are an indicator that “some environments in New York City are becoming more raptor-friendly,” he says to Hell Gate.

At the same time, birders and experts are worried that the owls are at risk of poisoning, because they feast on rodents. “Rats in New York City are often poisoned by rodenticide, meant to kill the rats. But actually, what it does is kill the predators that feed on those rats,” Wilson tells CBS News. “And if barn owls are eating several rats a day, they are likely to fall prey to this horrible death.”

In 2024, Flaco, the beloved Eurasian eagle-owl that escaped the Central Park Zoo, died after hitting a building. Post-mortem examinations revealed that he had a severe case of pigeon herpesvirus and had ingested four different types of rodenticide that likely contributed to his fatal crash. The city later passed “Flaco’s Law,” which includes a pilot program to curb rat populations using contraceptive methods rather than rodenticide.

Still, the latest owls to attain fame are a sign of the animals’ resilience despite the risks of urban environments, as wildlife photographer and author David Lei tells Hell Gate. “The fact that there is a barn owl nest in Manhattan is something to be celebrated,” he says. “It should also galvanize people to do more to protect our wildlife.”

For now, the barn owls are capturing the hearts of people around the city, who welcome the reprieve they offer from recent headlines.

“You wake up in the morning and wonder what kind of new hell are we going to have today,” says resident Lydia Sugarman to the Times. “And now we have this wonderful distraction.”

Sara Hashemi is a science writer and fact-checker currently based in New York City. Her work has appeared in Sierra, The Body, Maisonneuve magazine and more.