Brian: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. The hyper-local news site West Side Rag is reporting that hundreds of people are showing up in Central Park, near the reservoir every evening to maybe catch a glimpse of the snowy owl who has made a rare appearance in our area. Owl sighting seemed to have become the closest thing to live theater that we're going to get for a while and some longtime birders are worried about all the attention being given to this owl and others by stir-crazy newcomers. To talk about the ethics of birding, especially when it comes to owls, we're joined by Kaitlyn Parkins, a senior conservation biologist at New York City, Audubon. Kaitlyn, thanks so much for some time. Welcome to WNYC.

Kaitlyn: Thanks so much for having me, Brian. I appreciate it.

Brian: I guess it must be a dilemma for folks like you. All this attention to these birds means a wider audience for the conservation message, but all this attention also can harm this particular bird.

Kaitlyn: Yes. I think you nailed it right there. There are so many new faces in the birding world this year. Lots of folks have taken up birding or at least started paying attention to birds in their neighborhood during the pandemic. We love to see that. We also like to see people learning about the threats to the birds, the risks they face, and how they can help birds by supporting conservation work or following best birding practices. People really enjoy and get excited by these celebrity birds, but unfortunately, we can love them a little too hard, so to speak, and cause them distress.

Brian: Listeners, we can take some phone calls for Kaitlyn Parkins. Have you been trekking to the park to catch a glimpse of the snowy owl or to Riverside Park to see Barnard, the barred owl hanging out by Barnard and Columbia University, or one of the other owls spotted in the area? There are others. Do you have a question for how to keep watching and shall you give a hoot for the birds' comfort? In fact, extra points. We will declare extra points if you actually give a hoot and demonstrate what your favorite owl screech sounds like. You're invited at 646-435-7280. You can also just ask our conservation biologist guest any question about snowy owls or other owls that you want. 646-435-7280. 646-435-7280. Kaitlyn, tell us about snowy owls. Are they rare birds or just rarely seen in this area?

Kaitlyn: They are these large conspicuous, quintessential winter owls. They're white with varying amounts of brown or black markings on them, depending on their age and sex. Typically, they're breeding up on the Arctic Tundra. They have a really interesting life cycle where some of them might then migrate North, some of them might stay on their breeding ground, and especially after a really good breeding year, many of them will disperse South in the winter. They travel thousands of miles and sometimes they end up here.

In our area, we typically do have a couple of snowy owls turn up in the winter. They often end up on the beaches. Remember there are Tundra breeding birds. There are no trees up there. These birds are really looking for places that look like the Tundra, that looks flat, that looks snowy. Sandy beaches is often where they end up. This particular owl is a young female and we're not sure exactly why she ended up here, but if you can imagine flying over Central Park and seeing a baseball field that might look like the right habitat to a young snowy owl.

Brian: It would look like the right habitat to me, but I didn't know that owls like baseball fields too. Worst case. Someone tweeted out a story about a snowy owl in Massachusetts I think that starved to death because its feeding pattern was interrupted by people. Is that the essential risk and what are the best practices when it comes to observing birds without putting them at risk?

Kaitlyn: Exactly. These birds have traveled thousands of miles to get here. They need to rest and they need to hunt. We as observers need to make sure that we're allowing them to do that by practicing what we call ethical birding behavior. At its core, ethical birding behavior means acting in a way that is respectful to the bird and respectful to the other birders around you. That means avoiding stressing the birds and recognizing that our actions, even if it's just because we love this bird or we want to get a good photo of this bird, can have unintended consequences for the birds. These birds that were necropsied and then found to be starving in Massachusetts, I'm certain that nobody up there wanted to kill a snowy owl. They were probably just continually trying to get a better picture, trying to get closer, and ended up harming the bird unintentionally.

This applies to all birds, but it does often come up in regards to sensitive species like owls. Owls are hyper-sensitive. They're very sensitive to sound. They actually have a brain region for sound processing that is more complex compared to other birds, and because they're super popular, people love them. They draw big crowds, and so that can be a deadly combination. That's not to say that just looking at an owl is causing it harm or that we don't think anybody should go look at owls. Of course not. We want people to see and get excited about the birds.

There are some steps you can follow to make sure that you're being ethical. Move slowly, move quietly. Don't run and scream and distract the birds. Don't go off-trail or trample habitat to get to the bird. Don't purposely disturb it. We've seen stories of people throwing rocks or clapping at birds to try to get them to look at the camera. Don't use spotlights or flash photography, especially at night when the bird is hunting. There is scientific research to show that bright lights do at least briefly harm the bird's nocturnal vision. That can impair their ability to hunt. Don't get too close to the birds. This is tough. People want me to say, "This is how far away you need to be from the bird to be safe." I've seen 200 to 300 meters as a distance for birds, but we have to remember that that distance isn't determined by us. It's determined by the bird. Look at the bird and look for signs of stress, look for behavior changes, and if the bird is noticing you, you're too close and you should back off. Other things you can do to help [crosstalk].

Brian: That's pretty far by the way, right?

Kaitlyn: Yes.

Brian: 200 to 300 meters, that's 2 or 3 football fields.

Kaitlyn: Yes, that's quite far and that's why using long lenses like binoculars or cameras with long lenses or scopes will help you get a good view of the bird while being certain that you're not too close. There's lots of other bad behavior that we've seen baiting or setting out prey items for the birds can lead to dependence on humans for food and that can actually be lethal for the birds. We've seen people breaking or trimming foliage to get a better view of a bird. There was a saw-whet owl in Central Park a couple of years ago in a tree that just slowly over time lost a lot of its branches because people were trimming it. Eventually, you're going to make that not a good [unintelligible 00:07:38] for the bird and it's going to leave. All of these things are-- at its heart, think about what you're doing, learn the signs of a stressed owl, and if you're seeing those signs, back off. Get your picture, get a good look, and move on and let the bird rest.

Brian: I think Debbie in Riverdale has a backoff story. Debbie, you're on WNYC. Hi, there?

Debbie: Hi. I saw the snowy this season over at the West end beach of Jones Beach. There was signage there that said, "Keep 100 feet." It was easy to find the snowy. You just looked for the photographers. People were [inaudible 00:08:21] distance, but I think the signage does help. Of course, they're going to turn up wherever, so we can't have signage everywhere. At least in our parks, I think signage is very important.

Brian: Debbie, thank you very much. Caller who couldn't wait to go on the air asked if it's-- sorry. This question is written down for me. I'm reading it. "If its normal migration pattern means the snowy owl shows up in Brooklyn or Queens, why is it such a big deal that it's Manhattan?"

Kaitlyn: Great. I first want to thank Debbie for her story. I think that's great. Signage is really helpful. In the case of this snowy owl in Central Park, we were lucky that the owl chose a spot behind a fence and the urban park rangers were incredible. They responded really quickly and they stayed all day educating folks about the bird. I think that's pretty critical to protect these birds. If it's normal for the birds to end up in Brooklyn and Queens, imagine a bird going out, it's looking for these big open spaces like a Tundra, looking for fields, looking for beaches. In Manhattan, we don't have a lot of that space. I want to thank Paul Sweet from the American Museum of Natural History for uncovering the last Central Park snowy owl record and that was in 1890. I think that's one reason people are just so excited about this particular owl.

Brian: Peter in Tampa, you're on WNYC. Hi, Peter?

Peter: Oh, hi. I'm just asking,

in general, people would want to go, "They have bird feeders. Is it a bad idea to bring food? What kind of food would you bring if you wanted to feed the birds?" I imagine you don't bring cocoa puffs, but like shredded wheat. What should people feed the birds and what to feed them?

Brian: Only healthy breakfast cereals. Kaitlyn.

Kaitlyn: [chuckles] Thanks Peter for that question. We do recommend feeding birds seeds and other things that are part of their natural diets if you're going to set up a feeder station in your yard. You also want to make sure that you're keeping that feeding station clean because birds can transmit disease when they are congregated around a feeding system. You only want to feed them healthy feeds, things that are part of their natural diet. You can go in and purchase bird food mixes that are great. You can also plant native plants. That's a great way to provide food for birds without potentially accidentally harming them in any way.

When it comes to birds like owls and raptors, we generally recommend and strongly recommend that you don't feed those birds, that you do not give them anything. I've heard stories of people trailing mice behind cars in order to bait in an owl. To me, that just sounds like a good way to accidentally kill an owl. These birds are smart. They can get habituated to people very quickly and not be able to hunt for themselves anymore. It can also make them approach people which is dangerous and can result in the bird having to be captured or potentially even euthanized. In terms of birds of prey, please don't feed them.

Brian: Edson in Manhattan. You're on WNYC. Hi, Edson

Edson: Hi, Brian.

Brian: Hey there, we got you.

Edson: Hey, Brian. Just want to comment on bird watching regarding people of color and minorities because as we know last year, we had a big issue with Christian Cooper. He was bird watching and then he was approached by a white woman who called the police and he was watching the birds. She can comment on that like encourage minority and Blacks to go to the park and not feel afraid that a white person would going to call the police.

Brian: The famous Central Park Karen incident. For people that don't remember, the man there, I think his name was Christian Cooper was birding.

Kaitlyn: Yes. Thank you for that question. I think it's a really important one. Chris Cooper is on the board of directors of my organization, New York City Audubon. We know Chris well and we were quite involved in that situation, that racist incident. I think that's a really good point. Birding as a pastime has traditionally skewed white. It has traditionally skewed older. In terms of competitive birding, it's often male. A lot of people feel excluded. I'm a straight passing white woman. I can't speak to everyone else's experiences, but I know myself when I started birding in 2010, I was often bullied or brushed off by some of the older more experienced birders. It really wasn't a welcome community.

Luckily in past years, there has been a rise of a movement to increase equity in birding and to provide safe spaces. The Feminist Bird Club was founded specifically for people to find a space where they can feel safe and included and affirmed and provide them with the community that the typical traditional birding community doesn't provide. Now, other organizations like Audubon are doing the same. In New York City Audubon, we are trying to lower the barriers to entry for people by providing free bird walks in all five boroughs of New York City, COVID pending, of course, and by partnering with organizations like Latino Outdoors to provide bird walks and other languages. I think there's still a lot to be done. But there are communities that are taking it really seriously and trying to make a change.

Brian: It's great to hear that New York City Audubon is doing that kind of thing. Well, I'm sad to say that we've only got one person on the phones brave enough to do an actual bird call. I'm happy to say we have a person on the phone brave enough to do an owl call. Jennifer in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC and you're going to get our last hoot.

Jennifer: Hi, I'm really excited to be on the phone and share an owl call and also a way for people to learn about the ethics of birding and learn from other birders in a free opportunity through-- I think you were just mentioning it, with local bird walks Brooklyn Bird Club, Queens Bird Club, many wonderful clubs. Audubon Feminist Bird Club offer free walks in a lot of areas. Just a really cool way to be involved.

Brian: That's great. We've got 20 seconds, so we're all ears.

Jennifer: All right. Here's my owl call. It is an owl that you can find in the New York area, the eastern screech owls. [screeches]

Brian: Would you do it again?

Jennifer: [screeches]

Brian: That is awesome and so beautiful.

Kaitlyn: That's so incredible.

Brian: Jennifer, that's the last sound on the Brian Lehrer show today.

Kaitlyn: I'm so impressed.

Brian: As we thank Kaitlyn Parkins, senior conservation biologist at New York Audubon. You've been great. Thank you so much.

Copyright © 2020 New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use at www.wnyc.org for further information.

New York Public Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline, often by contractors. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of New York Public Radio’s programming is the audio record.