Central Park has had an active rescue operation to recapture Flaco for over a week. Staff from the Wildlife Conservation Society have been active every day from sunrise to about midnight.

This week, I’ve always been careful to do avoid interrupting the work of the zoo staff. They are incredibly good at what they’re doing and have a team in the evenings of at least ten people, if not more, working to bring him home.

As enjoyable it is to study this owl exploring the park, our first responsibility is to make sure none of us gets in the way of getting this owl back home to the zoo.

Unfortunately, publicity about this owl hasn’t come with a warning to stay out of the way of the zoo staff, especially after dark. Last night, David Barrett used his Manhattan Bird Alert to tweet in real time about the evening’s rescue efforts. By informing so many people and not making sure his followers knew how to act, he put Flaco at risk.

The rescue efforts are using a trap commonly used by bird banders to capture raptors. To lure an owl to this trap, you must stay far away from it and do everything you can to make the owl feel relaxed enough to pounce on the trap. Last night, the zoo staff was staying as far away and stationary as possible from the traps, except for one or two staff members staying close enough to net the owl if it came to the trap, often using trees to help hide.

The gawkers and photographs who came in response to David Barrett’s tweets didn’t understand how to act responsibly during the rescue effort. They had no awareness of traps or how important it was to stay far away from them. Most didn’t even have binoculars and often went as close as possible with their cell phones! So, in some instances folks ended up making it impossible for the owl to feel comfortable coming down to the traps or delayed the owl from trying. What should have been a night where the owl made multiple attempts at the traps, he only come down twice. Once where he didn’t get caught well enough to be netted, and a second time where a dog barked and charged him when he got landed on the ground close to the trap which caused him to fly off.

The crowd also chased the owl after fly out. While the zoo staff needs to run after him to keep track of him, everyone else needs to be aware that they can “push” the bird. In the beginning of the evening, he didn’t settle down, but kept going from tree to tree. Experienced birders know how to let a bird settle down before approaching them, to not continually push them to the next tree and then the next. This “pushing” of the owl happened last night due to the number of onlookers rushing after him.

I did my best to talk to onlookers and dog owners to have them stay clear of the rescue efforts but couldn’t get to everyone. 

If David Barrett wants to invite folks to crash someone else’s party, he at least needs to tell them how to behave. Better yet, he should let the Wildlife Conservation Society choose want folks they want to come to their recovery effort. Exploiting this owl for “likes and follows” could be deadly.