Buildings are a huge danger for birds. They also face other risks, including poisoning that can cloud their brains.
Flaco spent a year defying expectations, an owl born into captivity who quickly learned to hunt and fend for himself in the wilds of New York City. That ended on Friday when he flew into a building near Central Park. What went wrong?
Did he hit a window that he failed to perceive as glass, like hundreds of millions of birds across the United States each year? Or was he compromised in some way that impeded his ability to navigate New York’s concrete canyons?
A full necropsy, to be performed by the Wildlife Conservation Society, will take weeks. Initial findings were “consistent with death due to acute traumatic injury,” the group said on Saturday evening.
The main impact appears to have been to the body, with substantial hemorrhage. There was also a small amount of bleeding behind the left eye. Flaco’s body condition seemed good. He weighed 4.1 pounds, only slightly less than his last recorded weight of 4.2 pounds at the Central Park Zoo, his longtime home.
“Flaco’s tragic and untimely death highlights the issue of bird strikes and their devastating effects on wild bird populations,” the zoo said in a statement. “It is estimated that nearly one quarter of a million birds die annually in New York City as a result of colliding with buildings.”
The next step will be to identify any underlying factors that may have contributed to his death. The results of testing on tissue samples — including toxicology tests to evaluate potential exposures to rodenticides or other toxic substances, and testing for avian flu and other diseases — are expected in coming weeks.