NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — What a hoot! Bird enthusiasts across New York City flocked to see a snowy owl that was spotted in Brooklyn over the holiday weekend, a rare sight in the boroughs, which are a significant flight from where the species lives in the Arctic.
David Barrett, creator and manager of Manhattan and Brooklyn Bird Alert , told 1010 WINS that “there are a limited amount of snowy owls, less than 30,000 in North America, over 1,000 miles from here they grow up.”
Birders first saw the owl gracing the skies on Saturday afternoon over and around Shirley Chisholm State Park, near the Fountain Avenue section on the edge of East New York. After the report was made, the area filled with wildlife fanatics trying to catch a glimpse or snap a picture of the yellow-eyed beauty.
“It’s a recognizable owl; all white, luminous yellow eyes, some dark barring on the wings, a large owl, majestic, everything you want,” Barrett said.
This was the first substantial sighting of the species in the city since 2022, Barrett said, a hiatus that left birders “starved of snowy owls for a couple years.”