Despite an unceremonious, sudden, and possibly illegal eviction, it seems like the young barn owls of upper Manhattan will be OK.
A parliament of barn owls had been nested in a hole in the roof of the rickety water tower of an Upper West Side apartment building—but late last week, birders noticed workers doing construction on the roof of the water tower, destroying the nest that the owls had built.
Birder David Lei told Hell Gate that the fledglings being raised in the disrupted nest began roosting out in the open on nearby buildings last week, which was unusual, he explained.
"That owl should have been roosting in a more sheltered location, like on an air conditioner windowsill, something like that," Lei said. "But it was out in the open, fully exposed. Songbirds had been bothering it during the day, just natural behavior. But you know, a hawk could have seen it and attacked it."
Lei said that management at 15 West 75th Street had told the residents that they were doing "scheduled maintenance" on the water tower. The building's management did not respond to Hell Gate's request for comment by publication time, but we will update this story if they do.