Though two adorable snowy owls just landed at the Bronx Zoo, a wild snowy owl recently made a rare appearance in NYC–the last time a snowy owl was spotted in NYC was in 2022.
The stunning bird of prey caused quite the hoot when it was spotted in the Fountain Avenue side of Shirley Chisholm State Park this past weekend, making for quite the holiday gift! Twitter account Brooklyn Bird Alert, who posts rare-bird alerts plus birding news, photos, and videos for Brooklyn, posted a video of the owl with the caption:
Snowy Owl in the fog at Shirley Chisholm State Park this early morning. Watch it perched, checking people around, preening, watching the sky (a Harrier passed by), and trying to sleep.
The owl’s NYC visit marks the first appearance a snowy owl was seen in NYC in a couple of years, so of course it attracted a number of photographers, birders, and wildlife enthusiasts hoping to see it for themselves.
David Barrett, a birder and founder of Manhattan Bird Alert, told The Post:
It’s one of the most beautiful and distinct owls in the world. It’s the owl from Harry Potter — Hedwig…It’s a rarity. It’s a rare sighting in New York City, generally one we only get in the middle of winter.
Barrett added that the owl was likely a first-year bird that was hatched this past summer, and had probably embarked on a 1,000+ mile journey before taking a break in the city. American Bird Conservancy writes that there are less than 30,000 snowy owls remaining in North America, and only 200,000 globally, so it certainly was a treat for New Yorkers to catch a glimpse of one!
With that being said, Barrett did note that Shirley Chisholm State Park is “an excellent habitat for a Snowy Owl” thanks to it being relatively flat, not densely forested, and stocked full of NYC rats. So who knows, maybe snowy owl spottings will become more frequent now that they know about the park!