Flaco is as free as a bird, for better or worse
For nine months, Flaco, the Eurasian eagle-owl that escaped from the Central Park Zoo, was remarkably easy to find. He favored a clearing on the northern side of the park with log piles that housed plentiful rats, and he often roosted in a nearby tree overlooking the joggers and bicyclists on East Drive. The irony was noted by frequent Flaco photographer @above_96th: After 13 years of life in an enclosure for passersby to observe, the owl had selected a spot where he could watch oblivious humans pass him by.
I found him there one day last spring, tipped off by two women under the tree staring straight up in hushed awe. I was in New York for business and had made what I considered an essential detour to see him; for all his might and splendor, his survival was no sure thing. Central Park’s previous celebrity bird, Barry the barred owl, died when she collided with a maintenance vehicle; a necropsy revealed that she had a potentially lethal dose of rodenticide in her system. I’d followed Barry’s life as closely as I could from 100 miles away during the depths of the pandemic, and I’d felt genuine loss at her death. I couldn’t miss the opportunity to see Flaco.
He was — he is — beautiful: A massive predator with blazing eyes the color of a jack-o-lantern, soft camouflage tinged with warmer colors than any large North American owl, and talons…
