Flaco the owl is a peeping tom.
The Big Apple’s most famous furry escapee has been peeking at fellow Manhattanites through their apartment windows less than a year after flying the coop from the Central Park Zoo.
But the residents didn’t cry, instead cheering for their unusual visitor – at least once the initial shock wore off.
“It really freaked me out,” Reilly Richardson, 31, told the Wall Street Journal after seeing Flaco’s wide-eyed peeping through his Manhattan apartment window three mornings in a row.
“I hope he comes back,” he told the Journal. “It was a really fun three days.”
Digital marketer Matt Sweeney told the outlet he “heard gasps” when he caught sight of the Eurasian eagle owl while sitting at his desk in his third-floor Upper West Side apartment.
Flaco the Eurasian eagle owl that escaped from the Central Park Zoo in February has developed a habit of peering into New York apartment windows. @BirdCentralPark/Twitter
“It was amazing,” Sweeney said.
Since escaping the zoo in February with the help of some pests, Flaco has taken up residence in and around Central Park, topping the list of the area’s famous bird residents and making headlines around the world.
Townspeople and tourists alike flock to the area where he has reportedly been spotted, hoping to catch a glimpse of him going about his daily routine, which includes eating rats.
Stella Hamilton, a nurse who lives near Central Park, told the Journal she makes the trip every day to visit Flaco’s final resting place. He also hailed a taxi to Kampung Timur about six miles from home after receiving a warning that he had been seen in the area.
He arrived just in time to catch Flaco flying from a tree branch onto a nearby rooftop, looking back at the crowd of supporters who had gathered as he landed.
“It felt like there was meaning in his eyes,” Hamilton told the outlet.
“You again?” he said, imagining the bird’s inner monologue. “How did you find me?”
Karla Bloem, executive director of the International Owl Center, told The Post that Flaco seeks a vantage point that aligns with his natural instincts. Corbis via Getty Images
Flaco was found again about two days later, this time on the Lower East Side, by psychologist Robin Herbst-Paparne. The resident said she was enjoying quality time on the sofa with a book and her cat, Lucy Goose, when she heard a loud bang outside her window.
Herbst-Paparne said that’s when she saw Flaco cooling his paws on his air conditioner, “staring at the skyline,” she told the Journal.
“I thought he was just participating in the life of the city,” said the resident.
Karla Bloem, executive director of the International Owl Center, told The Post on Monday that Flaco sought a vantage point atop a window AC unit more than a dozen stories from the ground in line with the bird’s natural instincts.
“Eurasian Eagle Owls often nest on cliff tops, and I think if you’re in the urban jungle, an air conditioning unit on the side of a tall building is about as close as you get to an instinctive search for a potential cliff nest site,” he wrote in an email. .
As for Flaco’s new peeping habit, Bloem said the bird’s captivity means he probably isn’t afraid of humans and that he can just “watch people, look for potential mates, look at pets in apartments or whatever.
“Owls are curious, like cats,” he said.
While Flaco’s behavior can mostly be attributed to instinctual behavior and curiosity, Bloem said it’s possible he’s so familiar with humans that he might be looking for a mate, which could lead to an awkward encounter.
Flaco has gained international attention since his escape, and New Yorkers have followed his exploits closely. @NYPD19Pct/Twitter
“Then he might try to land on people’s heads to mate,” he said, citing escaped eagle owls in the Netherlands that earned the nickname “cuddle owls” that way.
During his time on the lam, Flaco routinely made the rounds from Central Park throughout Manhattan, spotted everywhere from Alphabet City and the Lower East Side to the entire uptown area.
The 13-year-old owl seems to love the high life, with sightings reported in a tree outside The Plaza Hotel and atop the iconic 241 Central Park West high-rise apartment building.
Less than three weeks after his escape, Central Park Zoo officials abandoned their rehabilitation efforts but said in a statement to The Guardian that they would “continue to monitor Flaco and his activities and be prepared to continue rehabilitation efforts if he shows any signs of difficulty or distress.”
The NYPD also had fun with a naughty post on X the night of February 2 fled after trying in vain to argue with the “clever man.
“Well, that was a ruckus. We tried to help this smart guy, but he had enough of his growing audience & flew away. @NYCParks Rangers, watch out — he was last seen flying southbound on 5th Avenue,” the Department said The city police.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
