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A Remarkable Outpouring of Emotion for an Owl Who Brought People Out in the Pandemic

August 11, 2021 | 9:07 AM
in NEWS, OUTDOORS
17


Courtesy of @barrybarredowl.

Barry the Barred Owl got an emotional sendoff this week after the rare bird was killed last Friday in a collision with a Central Park Conservancy maintenance vehicle.

Crowds gathered on Monday night just west of the Boathouse in Central Park’s Ramble where the owl liked to spend time. There were sunflowers, poems, and drawings posted on the fence and the ground.

Some heartfelt messages for beautiful #Barry the #barredowl at her #centralpark hemlock memorial on Monday. She brought us together for her most epic flyout ever. ⁦@BarryBarredOwl⁩ will always be flying just up ahead of us if we keep looking for her. Love you girl #birdcpp pic.twitter.com/KoOMHHdvTw

— r2junot (@r2junot) August 10, 2021

Through the fall and winter, hundreds of people gathered to watch Barry in Central Park — a rare beam of light at a time when the city was still reeling from the pandemic.

One child’s note said “Because of you, I stopped being scared to go out during the pandemic.”

Sweet note left for the beloved bird, Barry @BirdCentralPark pic.twitter.com/ZBSXEhsmpD

— Jun J. Mao (@JunMaoMD) August 10, 2021

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michael
michael
3 years ago

I’m inclined to believe this was an accident, but as others have pointed out in an earlier thread, the behaviors of much of the conservancy workers is poorly monitored and/or enforced by their supervisors.

For the size of their endowment, and it is considerable, they could be doing a lot better.

And while I’m on this rant, the concert in the park should probably be rescheduled. I’m not entirely sure we should be feeling particularly celebratory given what the healthcare workers are experiencing nationwide.

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Anon
Anon
3 years ago
Reply to  michael

There should be a full scale investigation. Too much of a loss to just trust the word of the operators.. How was the vehicle’s last speed really known?

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lynn
lynn
3 years ago
Reply to  Anon

I don’t understand anything about this thread. Why is it so difficult to believe that the owl flew into a vehicle? And why so much animosity directed toward conservancy workers?

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Josh
Josh
3 years ago
Reply to  lynn

It is definitely possible that a bird could hit a stationary object and die from impact, but this is not usually the case with cars. Birds are killed crashing into high building windows all the time, but most of the time, when a bird hits the window, it gets stunned. If it regains consciousness before hitting the ground, it can resume flight. Hitting the side of a car, the fall to the ground is not so far. Owls are not particularly fast raptor’s, relying more on stealth than speed. A hawk or falcon hitting the side of a vehicle can impact at a very high speed, but owls wouldn’t have the same velocity. And then the speed the truck was travelling was self reported to be 15mph or less. When I bike in the park, I have a speedometer on my bike and I am typically sustaining about 20mph. All parks vehicles on the road pass me when they are travelling through. Which means they are travelling faster than 20mph. Now that’s with other on the road while the park is open. This was in the middle of the night while the park was closed. So, put 2 and 2 together. But that’s just my 2 cents from my degree in Wildlife Biology and my former life as a Parks Dept employee in the beginning of my career.

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Anon
Anon
3 years ago
Reply to  Josh

Completely agree. Any investigation could recover the last speed of the truck. What if it were 30, 40, 50mph? Wouldn’t we want to know? 15mph doesn’t seem likely to kill. The mayor should step in here.

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Josh
Josh
3 years ago
Reply to  Anon

Apparently, it was self-reported.

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SadforUWS
SadforUWS
3 years ago

Oh. Now I understand why DeBlasio was elected twice: these are the voters.

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Honest Abe
Honest Abe
3 years ago
Reply to  SadforUWS

Again, I don’t understand why WSR allows comments like this. Just pointless trolling.

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bird lover but cmon
bird lover but cmon
3 years ago

It’s…an owl.

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James Demetrios
James Demetrios
3 years ago
Reply to  bird lover but cmon

It was a beautiful bird that made people happy. What’s your point?

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Edgar Allen Poet
Edgar Allen Poet
3 years ago
Reply to  bird lover but cmon

Yes, but a much appreciated one.
Barry’s many fans might appreciate this version of the old weepy:
“OWL’ll” be seeing you in all the old familiar places….
Relax! According to Wikipedia, “Billie Holiday’s 1944 recording of the song was the final transmission sent by NASA to the Opportunity rover on Mars when its mission ended in February 2019”

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Sarah
Sarah
3 years ago
Reply to  bird lover but cmon

God forbid people take comfort in something beautiful from nature in these awful times, right?

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Gretchen
Gretchen
3 years ago

Maybe like Strawberry Fields, the Parks Dept. should create a Barry’s Perch memorial site to bring joy to current and future birders who loved Barry in perpetuity. His brief but spectacular life that brought so many people together.

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Matthew Zarzecki
Matthew Zarzecki
3 years ago

❤️

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Tootsie Pop Owl was a better owl.
Tootsie Pop Owl was a better owl.
3 years ago

All this because a bird died? I’ve never seen this much outpour of love when a pigeon dies.

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Gretchen Berger
Gretchen Berger
3 years ago
Reply to  Tootsie Pop Owl was a better owl.

A barred owl is a rare treat, not so much pigeons, though they are nice too.

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JL
JL
3 years ago
Reply to  Tootsie Pop Owl was a better owl.

Pigeons are prey animals. Humans identify with predators much more than prey. Homo Sapiens are currently the most dominant predators on the planet (with the help of extinction events). Wolves and big cats were also on top of the food chain for thousands of years, but they were no match for humans after we started making tools and weapons. Humans projected emotional connections onto some of the species that responded well , so we bred smaller animals for work/pets. It is still happening today.

https://twistedsifter.com/2012/05/hyena-handlers-of-nigeria/
The last image of the family portrait at the bottom is fascinating.

I’m guessing early humans domesticated some wolf packs to share our territory/shelters. We liked cows, pigs (as smart as some dogs), and chickens also. But they’re prey animals, so we fatten them up for consumption. Horses, camels and elephants we’re the first luxury cars.

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