As we approach the first anniversary of beloved Flaco’s untimely death in New York City, two avid fans of the freed Eurasian eagle-owl have released a lovingly produced photo book devoted to his year of freedom after his unplanned release from the Central Park Zoo. A self-published endeavor by NYC birders Jaqueline Emery and David Lei, Finding Flaco: Our Year with New York City’s Beloved Owl (2024) contains over 200 photos of the owl in all of his glory, supplemented by detailed personal observations of his transformation during his 13 months adjusting to life in the big city.
Flaco lived in an enclosure at the Central Park Zoo from November 2010 to February 2023 and escaped his exhibit after an unknown vandal clipped the protective netting to his space one night. He continuously evaded recapture by the Wildlife Conservation Society, which soon withdrew its efforts and resigned to simply monitoring the owl as he adjusted to life in the wild — and in the limelight.
Flaco became a sensation to the city’s birding community and general population alike as thousands rooted for him in his transition from ambivalent animal-in-captivity to majestic bird of prey. Lei and Emery documented Flaco’s growth from the day of his escape through his unexpected death in late February 2024 after he struck a building — his toxicology report came back with positive results of pigeon herpesvirus and exposure to multiple rodenticides.
Having encountered Flaco some 150 times, Lei and Emery had thousands of photos of Flaco coming into himself as a charismatic, curious, and independent owl against all odds after 10 years confined at the zoo.
Photos of the magnificent raptor nestled in tree branches and chowing down on city rats are juxtaposed with images of him perched on construction vehicles and active worksites, evaluating his surroundings and understanding his place in the big city like so many of us as we slink under scaffolding and weave through traffic barriers.
“In a city of immigrants, Flaco was a stranger living in a strange land and doing his best to adapt,” Lei and Emery wrote to Hyperallergic. “He was an eligible bachelor, but could not find the love he sought. He was a symbol for those seeking hope and inspiration and a gateway for appreciating owls and other wildlife.”
“But, for us, Flaco was not a metaphor — he was an individual with a unique personality who lived for his own benefit,” Lei and Emery continued. “He was also our dear winged friend whose legacy lives on in efforts to make New York safer for raptors and other wildlife.”
In addition to Lei and Emery’s picture-perfect compositions, the pair thoughtfully describe their and others’ encounters with the bird, thoroughly reporting on Flaco’s hunting and roosting habits, his newfound proclivity for regular hooting (normal owl behavior that he never participated in while at the zoo), his acclimation to squirrel neighbors, his journey to the East Village, and his fascination with air conditioning units and residential window peeping, among other observations.
When his untimely death came around just three weeks after his first anniversary of life in the wild, Lei, Emery, and all of New York mourned Flaco and what he unknowingly came to represent. The onslaught of heavy emotions manifested themselves in heartfelt illustrations and letters placed at his memorial tree in Central Park as well as public art throughout the city.
“The outpouring of grief and love, as well as a subsequent debate over the plight of animals in captivity and the danger of rat poisons to raptors, demonstrate that, for many people, Flaco was always more than simply an owl,” Lei and Emery told Hyperallergic.
Keeping the owl’s memory alive in perpetuity, Finding Flaco is available through the New York Historical.
