Manhattan Water Tower Roof Removed: Barn Owl Nest Exposed
State officials ordered work halted after the roof of a tower housing the city's first documented modern barn owl family was taken off, leaving fledglings exposed.
By Ivan Dvorak ·
Residents on Manhattan’s Upper West Side lost cover for a rare owl family on Thursday when the roof of a local water tower was removed. The structure, situated atop a building, had recently become home to a pair of barn owls and their young. This incident marks the first time such a nest has been documented in Manhattan in modern history.
The removal of the roof left the nest exposed to the elements and public view. Jessica Wilson, executive director of the NYC Bird Alliance, observed one fledgling on the roof of a nearby building shortly after the work began. She noted that barn owls are nocturnal and should not be active during the day. Wilson stated that the bird had been disturbed from its nest and that no other fledglings were visible at the time.
Reports of activity at the top of the tower reached the NYC Bird Alliance on Thursday morning from residents and birders. Wilson arrived to find no workers present on the roof. Officers from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation also responded to the scene. With permission from the building’s superintendent, they accessed the roof and confirmed that the upper section of the water tower, where the owls had been nesting, was missing.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation issued a statement confirming that its police investigated the site. The officers found that the roof removal exposed the barn owl nest. They instructed the building owner to halt any demolition of the water tower until further notice. The department is currently investigating potential violations of state and federal laws that protect active migratory bird nests.
The building’s superintendent declined to comment when reached by phone. It remains unclear who owns the building or specifically ordered the roof removal. Thomas Obersteiner, a local resident, said he saw a man with an extension cord climbing down from the water tower around noon on Thursday. He identified the time of the work, which coincides with when birders first noticed the change.
State Sen. Erik Bottcher voiced his outrage in a social media post, stating that the work potentially endangered the owls and their fledglings. He emphasized that active nests are protected under both state and federal law. Bottcher called for accountability regarding the violation of these protections. David Barrett, a birder who runs the Manhattan Bird Alert account, said the nest was widely known and should never have been disturbed.
Barn owl sightings in New York City parks are considered very rare by the city’s Department of Parks & Recreation. New York sits at the northern edge of the species' range. The state Department of Environmental Conservation reports that the barn owl population has declined at an alarming rate over time. This decline makes the presence of a stable family in a dense urban area like Manhattan a notable event for conservationists.
Wilson explained that barn owl fledglings depend on their parents to hunt for them because they do not yet know how to catch prey. The parents bring food to the nest site. Without the structural cover of the tower roof, Wilson expressed concern that the fledglings might not survive the exposure. The parents are expected to continue bringing food to the exposed nest location while the investigation proceeds.
