Debbie Becker leads a free bird walk at the Garden every saturday from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., beginning at the Reflecting Pool at the Leon Levy Visitor Center.

Long-eared Owl (Asio otus)

Winter brings many different things to New York City, but for a birder, the one special gift winter delivers is the owl. With the leaves off the trees, these cryptic, wise, and almost magical birds become easier to locate and observe. The New York Botanical Garden hosted a number of species this past year, including the Barred, two Saw-whet, two Long-eared and two Great Horned Owls. As a matter of fact, there were more owls in the Garden than in Pelham Bay Park, which has always been considered the area’s owl hub.

Birders on the NYBG’s Saturday morning bird walks are now hopeful these mystical creatures will return and grace us with their alluring presence.
read more »

Trick? Or treat?

Great-Horned Owl in the Thain Family Forest (photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)

Bird Watchers Witness Drama During Weekly Walk

Debbie Becker leads a free bird walk at the Garden every Saturday from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. beginning at the Reflecting Pool in the Leon Levy Visitor Center. Photo of owls: Debbie Becker

Late last month, in frigid weather conditions, 12 loyal birders met me under the clock at 11 a.m. for the weekly bird walk around the Garden. Our main objective was to see the nesting great horned owls. We headed over to the snag at the Forest’s edge where the owls successfully nested last year, and there in a cavity we saw our resident female owl, all fluffed up sitting, presumably, on eggs—only the top half of her body was visible.

We then searched for the male owl, who usually is nearby, guarding the nest and his mate. Our binoculars scanned the bare branches of surrounding trees until we spotted him wedged between the trunk and a branch of a tree. Three blue jays were harassing him—screeching at the top of their lungs. When one jay got too close, the owl flew to a branch closer to us.

As we stood there freezing and admiring his majestic beauty a red-tailed hawk flew in and landed about 20 feet away from the owl. This wasn’t any red-tailed hawk—it was the female that nested on the Library building last spring. She and her mate (he later died from eating a poisoned rat) had three offspring; she and her brood often can be seen flying around the Garden searching for prey. We had seen the female many times before, silently perched waiting for some unsuspecting squirrel or rabbit to happen by. read more »

Owls on Nest Once Again, Waterfowl Add Color to Gray Days

Debbie Becker leads a free bird walk at the Garden every Saturday from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. beginning at the Reflecting Pool in the Leon Levy Visitor Center. Photos: Debbie Becker

Winter holds its best birding in two areas: owls and ducks. Right now the great horned owls at NYBG are sitting on their nest ready to bring forth a new brood of owlets to delight and amaze us. Anticipated arrival time is the end of February. In the meantime, wander down to the Bronx River and observe the wonderful world of waterfowl on the river. Wood ducks, mallards, one farm duck, and several hooded mergansers have been present on the Bronx River. Ducks are fun to watch, and their brightly-hued feathers add color to gray winter days.

The mergansers can be seen diving under the water searching for small fish and insects. The male’s white crest becomes erect when danger is near or when trying to attract a female during mating season. The females sport a funky spiked hairdo, but their crests are burgundy and subtle. The males often bob their heads in territorial display and are silent most the time. read more »

Debbie Becker leads a free bird walk at the Garden every Saturday from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. beginning at the Reflecting Pool in the Leon Levy Visitor Center.

It’s that time of year again, when all the deciduous leaves have fallen and the bare tree limbs leave exposed the birds of the Forest. As you walk the Forest path you are reminded of the Native Americans who used the Forest as hunting grounds—along the trail by the Bronx River you will even pass the Bear Den, a cave believed to have been used by Native Americans while hunting.

One of the most elusive figures in the NYBG Forest is the great horned owl, a large bird with tuft-like ears, cat-like eyes, and sharp claws. It is a monster of a bird, and it is the most sought-after species on our weekly walk.

Native Americans believed their deceased loved ones’ souls passed into the bodies of great horned owls. The owl was sacred to them and never hunted. Today we still hold the owl in reverence. It is a majestic, elusive creature that conceals itself in conifers during the day and hunts at night.

We’ll likely see this bird during our annual “unofficial” Christmas Bird Count tomorrow, in which we document the numbers of species and individual birds we see from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (The official Christmas Bird Count of the National Audubon Society, the 86th Bronx-Westchester Count, which includes the Botanical Garden, is on Sunday, December 27. Audubon conducts other counts over a three-week period all over North America and beyond.) read more »