LIVE: Barn Owls Nesting in a Manhattan Water Tower

A rare family of barn owls is nesting in a water tower on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Experts at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology say there is no known barn owl nest in Manhattan’s recorded history, so this may be the first. Reports count two adults and up to six young. The family has been covered by the Associated Press, the New York Times and Smithsonian Magazine.

This camera streams live, day and night. The owls are most active after dusk. At night the camera switches to infrared, so the picture is black and white.

Please watch from home and give the owls space. Crowds and bright lights can disturb a nest.

Barn owls eat rats, which puts them at risk from rat poison. To help, learn more from NYC Bird Alliance.

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