Saw-Whets, Long-Eared and Great-Horned Owls

These owls will soon each have their own pages. In the meantime, check out the saw-whet, long-eared and great-horned owls here, and the barred owls, snowy owls and eastern screech-owls on their own pages.

*Long-eared owl, Central Park, April 5, 2023*

*Long-eared owl, Central Park, December 15, 2020*

*A blue jay voices displeasure at the visit by a long-eared owl to Central Park, December 15, 2020.*

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day in 2018, I was able to see five different kinds of owls in New York City. I featured them in a holiday video, Happy Owly Days. (I tried to find a screech-owl, but I began my search too late!)

Barred Owls

Shakespeare, the Bar(re)d of Central Park

The first owl I saw in Central Park was a saw-whet, in April 2013. The next time I heard about an owl in the park was July 2013, when one was spotted high in a pine in the Pinetum. When I was told the owl's name, in my head I spelled it "B-A-R-D," and wondered why I couldn't find a reference to a "bard owl." I finally figured out it was a barred owl, which made more sense. But I still think of this owl as the "poet" of the owls. Barred owls now have their own page on this site, but I give you one photo here.