Snowy Owl is spotted in Central Park, for the first time in 130 years

In the winter of 1890, a snowy owl was spotted in Central Park in New York City, as part of what a contemporary account has called an “unusual abundance” along the East Coast of large and surprisingly beautiful predators that inhabit the arctic tundra.

“Unusual” is right. A snowy owl, according to birding records, did not appear fluffy in Central Park for another 130 years.

Then came Wednesday morning.

A bird watcher who manages the Twitter account Manhattan Bird Alert read an owl sighting on a tracking site and sounded the alarm.

“A SNOWY OWL, a mega rarity for Central Park,” he wrote, “now sits in the middle of the North Meadow ball fields. The baseball and softball group could have reminded the owl of its native hunting grounds or the sandy beaches of Queens and Long Island where owls often stop by in winter.

The hordes came running, cameras and glasses in hand, and the snow-white raptor with the thick black bars that mark a young female was Manhattan’s last instant celebrity bird – one sequel at a time at Rocky the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree Owl from last year and the superstar mandarin duck who ruled the park and the world’s social media in 2018.

There was the owl, sitting on top of a chain link fence: CLICK ON. Coming for a landing near third base: CLICK ON.

Looking flirtatiously over her shoulder: CLICK ON, CLICK ON.

Do this amazing 180 degree thing owls can do with their heads: CLICK ON, CLICK ON, CLICK ON.

“Glad to share the excitement with other bird watchers !!” the user boysenberry45 wrote on Twitter. The crowd itself began to draw crowds: supporters of Andrew Yang’s mayoral bid showed up with campaign signs.

The owl has also caught the attention of avian residents of the park.

A herd of the crows flew down to harass her and try to drive her away (owls sometimes eat crows).

A Red tailed falcon buzzed over his head (Falcons are fiercely territorial and cannot stand intruders).

Baseball fields are fenced in the winter to allow grass to grow back, so the onlookers crush was kept a few hundred yards from the owl, but that didn’t stop at least one person from cheating.

“We had to correct a drone condition,” said Dan Tainow, a park department ranger.

“Someone was trying to get this aerial photo,” about 50 feet in the air, he said. “The owl was aware of this. It was stressful.

Some enthusiasts have taken on Manhattan Bird Alert for revealing the exact location of the bird to 38,000 followers. “Tweeting the location of a snowy owl to a subscriber base with a long history of owl harassment is a great look, man,” a user named Aidan Place wrote.

But the observer behind Manhattan Bird Alert, David Barrett, a retired hedge fund manager who opened the account in 2013, said it was performing a public service and building support for conservation efforts.

“If you want people to care about nature,” he said, “you should show them it’s there and let them enjoy it for themselves.

On Thursday morning, snow-covered Central Park was nowhere to be found.

“I’m not surprised this has evolved,” said Paul Sweet, director of the ornithology collection at the American Museum of Natural History. “It wasn’t left alone – it was quite disturbed.” (He was referring to other birds, not people.)

But if you want to see a snowy owl near the park, you still can. It sits in the museum itself, in the first-floor rotunda, dazzling from its small pedestal. A teenager Teddy Roosevelt shot him dead on Long Island in 1876.

In fact, the museum has over 200 stuffed snow owls, cataloged and stored in metal drawers. Mr. Sweet can watch them anytime, but that hasn’t stopped him from taking refuge in the park during his lunch break on Wednesday to see one live.

“I couldn’t miss it,” he said. “There were about a hundred people watching him.”