Flaco the Owl’s death revives bird-safety bills
New York state senators want Flaco the Owl’s death to count. Three days after the freed Eurasian eagle-owl from the Central Park Zoo died after crashing into a landmarked eight-story building on the Upper West Side, Albany legislators tried to use the tragedy to rally support for bird-safety bills on Monday.
State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, the leading hoob, has proposed legislation that would compel new and refurbished New York state government buildings to have bird-friendly windows, a first step towards requiring private structures to follow suit.
memorial for Flaco- Image Credit: Getty
Formerly the Bird Safe Buildings Act, it is now the FLACO Act. The bill was submitted seven years ago, and numerous states have comparable restrictions, Hoylman-Sigal said.
A vandal liberated Flaco from a small enclosure at the Central Park Zoo, and he spent more than a year on the run. Building crashes kill around 600 million birds in the U.S. annually, according to the Wilson Journal of Ornithology.
Plate glass, which reflects images of a bird’s natural habitat, may entice birds to chase trees or plants. According to Hoylman-Sigal’s bill, “bird-friendly glass” and “architectural or design elements” that reduce collisions are required.
The building where Flaco was found had unknown windows, and it was unclear whether the non-migratory owl crashed into a window or wall. Flaco was located at 267 W. 89th. Flaco was spotted in an indoor courtyard, according to building owner Lisa Korologos, who heads the firm.
“Given his size, I think he would have broken or at least cracked the window,” Korologos emailed. But I would support bird protection laws.”
David Barrett, who runs a renowned bird-watching social media account, said Flaco knew the neighborhood buildings and may have fallen from a perch due to illness. Still, Hoylman-Sigal said Flaco’s enthralling Manhattan adventures and death at 14 prompted a new look at avian safety. He claimed the bill honors the owl.
A throng of admiring bird watchers followed Flaco during his 12-month sky voyage over Manhattan. Flaco is a skilled flyer with piercing orange eyes, a coat of golden and black feathers, enormous tufted black ears, and a puffed chest. Many of his final nights were spent hooting on the Upper West Side.
“When an animal like Flaco captures the public’s imagination and ends with such a sad story, I believe we should try to make some good out of it,” said Greenwich Village Democrat Hoylman-Sigal. The Dark Skies Protection Act, a second Hoylman-Sigal bill, would reduce light pollution by requiring much of the city’s non-essential outdoor lighting to be masked, turned off, or limited to motion activation between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Hoylman-Sigal’s office indicated that the light pollution bill, presented four years ago, could improve mental health and nocturnal bird navigation.
Flaco’s monument grows. Notes, flowers, drawings, and more honor the Friday-deceased owl. His life touched New Yorkers. Last February, someone cut a hole in Flaco’s cage at the Central Park Zoo. He became popular among birders and non-birders. He symbolized freedom for many. His body was located on the ground of an Upper West Side apartment courtyard by building supervisor Pjeter Nikac on Friday.
“When I came in, I saw him right behind my door, with open arms, and he was still alive,” stated Nikac. He and building resident Alan Drogin, an experienced birder, called professionals to revive Flaco, but it was too late.
A campaign for a Flaco statue in the park has received 500 signatures and is now seeking 1,000. Local politicians are reintroducing a law to ensure bird-friendly designs in new or refurbished structures. It became Flaco’s Act. Patricia Fahy, an Albany Democrat and Dark Skies Protection Act supporter, said: “Joyful memories of Flaco should serve as a call to action for New Yorkers from the Adirondacks to Long Island.”
“While we don’t know if Flaco’s collision happened at night,” she said, “we do know that the Dark Skies Act would help prevent many of them at night and reverse the troubling trends of bird species extinction and migration patterns.”
