Barn owls nest in a water tower on West 75th Street, drawing crowds every night
An adult and at least five young barn owls are living above an Upper West Side building. Birders say Manhattan has no earlier recorded nest of the species.
A family of barn owls has made its home in a rooftop water tower on West 75th Street, a short walk from Central Park West. Every night, people now fill that Upper West Side block in the hope of spotting them.
According to one expert, no earlier barn owl nest in Manhattan has been documented in modern times. Andrew Farnsworth, who studies bird migration at Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology, called the find “totally shocking.” As far as birders collectively know, he said, the borough has had no barn owl nest, at least in recorded history.
How the Upper West Side barn owls were found
The news began to spread after Oct. 6. That day, resident Elisabeth Williams said she and her husband had seen several owls at the tower. Days earlier, the couple had noticed one owl perched on the sill of an apartment window. Williams said Manhattan usually makes you go looking for nature, but here it turned up just outside their window.
David Barrett, a Manhattan birder behind the Manhattan Bird Alert social media account, said he has seen five fledglings at the tower along with at least one adult.
Why barn owl sightings in NYC are so rare
According to the city Parks Department, the species very rarely turns up in New York City parks. The state Department of Environmental Conservation notes that New York sits at the northern edge of the barn owl’s range and that its numbers have dropped “at an alarming rate.”
Owls grab the attention of birders and non-birders alike, said Jessica Wilson, who leads NYC Bird Alliance. She said they are nocturnal, secretive and rarely seen, particularly on the Upper West Side.
Each night, photographers and curious neighbors line the street. Val Coleman, a retired New Yorker who came to the Upper West Side earlier this week to look for the owls, said the only other barn owl Coleman had ever seen was in California. Coleman hoped the birds would emerge at dusk to hunt and steer clear of rats poisoned with rodenticide.
New Yorkers have adopted birds before. Flaco, a Eurasian eagle-owl, flew free around Manhattan after someone released him from his zoo exhibit, and he died in 2024. Pale Male, a red-tailed hawk, kept a nest high above Fifth Avenue for 30 years and died in 2023.
Quick answers
Where are the barn owls on the Upper West Side?
In a rooftop water tower on West 75th Street, a short walk from Central Park West.
How many barn owls are there?
A Manhattan birder has seen five fledglings and at least one adult at the tower.
Are barn owls rare in New York City?
Yes. The Parks Department says they very rarely turn up in city parks, and the state says their numbers have dropped at an alarming rate.
