The Late-Night Birders Flocking to the UWS To Capture a Shot of the Resident Barn Owl Family

By Gus Saltonstall

A family of Barn owls is proving to be a real hoot on the Upper West Side.

Following West Side Rag’s October 4 story about a Barn owl sighting in a building courtyard on West 75th Street, between Columbus and Central Park West, birders have been traveling from near and far to a stretch of Central Park West where you can see the rare birds in their nest atop a water tower.

As many as five Barn owls, two parents and three children, have now been photographed at the location.

counted at least five 🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉 young Barn Owls on the UWS water tower stretching their wings and waiting on rat deliveries from mom and dad last night https://t.co/IcwJCN2bQy

— respectful huff (@alexqarbuckle) October 9, 2026

The Rag visited Central Park West and West 75th Street around 9 p.m. on Thursday night to speak with some of the excited birders. The group gathered after dark because Barn owls are nocturnal and generally come out only at night.

“For me, and a couple of my friends, we’ve been seeing adult Barn Owls in Central Park for over a year, and because it’s such a rare event, we knew something was going on and suspected there was a nest somewhere on the Upper West Side for a long time,” Andrew Eastwick, who had also been out until 1:45 a.m. the night before watching for the owls, told the Rag. “So, in the last couple of days, when West Side Rag released a story that people saw the owls and then got the pictures of the water tower, we couldn’t resist. We’ve been having a lot of fun really enjoying these birds that we’ve only gotten tiny glimpses of for such a long time.”

The owls are not visible to the naked eye. You need a special camera lens to see the birds.

Binoculars do not do the trick, either.

Bruce Yolton, a longtime birder, was among the group on Thursday night. He also set up a live feed of the water tower, so people stopping by could get a look at the owls.

“It’s just exciting. Barn owls aren’t doing very well, so to have one just appear magically in Manhattan and to be having kids is just super. It’s also neat because it seems like a lot of people are getting an opportunity to see this and experience it,” Yolton said. “Just like with Pale Male and other birds, nature can really connect people and ground them, and we kind of lose that in the city sometimes. So, it’s really neat when these events happen, and they get to realize we’re still in this natural world.”

Yolton added there should be a level of care when viewing the Upper West Side Barn owls. Due to the owls nesting in the mid-block water tower, as opposed to a tree in Central Park, there is a natural protection to keep people from getting too close to the birds, but he mentioned that at least one person came by and shone a flashlight at the owls, which is frowned upon.

5 Barn Owls on an Upper West Side water tower! 🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉What an incredible Manhattan moment! So grateful to witness such fabulous wildlife right here in our city. See my previous post for a close-up!

#birdcpp, #NYCWildlife, #UrbanWildlife, #NYC https://t.co/2IMouFGwnd

— Anke Frohlich Photography (@_AnkeFrohlich) October 10, 2026

For those who might be interested in getting a glimpse of the Upper West Side Barn owl family, Yolton suggested familiarizing themselves with owl viewing ethics. You can read those suggestions — HERE.

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