The owl Flaco spies on New York residents: he looks into the windows of apartments, which greatly scares the townspeople.

The famous Flaco began spying on Manhattan residents through the windows of their apartments, a year after escaped from the zoo Central Park. According to New york post the residents do not complain, but on the contrary, they rejoice at the unusual guest - at least when the initial shock wears off.

“I was scared to death at first,” said Reilly Richardson, 31, after spotting Flaco’s bright orange eyes peering through her apartment window three mornings in a row. - I hope he comes back. It was a really fun three days.”

Marketer Matt Sweeney, sitting at his desk in his third-floor Upper West Side apartment, heard a distinctive hoot before he saw a Eurasian eagle owl. “It was just mesmerizing,” he said.

After escaping from the zoo with the help of several vandals, Flaco took up residence in and around Central Park, topping the list of the area's most famous feathered inhabitants and making headlines around the world.

Flaco fans

Stella Hamilton, a nurse who lives near Central Park, said she monitors reports of Flaco's movements daily to see if he can be seen. She once called a taxi to the East Village, 9 kilometers away, after receiving a report that he had been seen in Central Park.

Flaco has also been seen on the Lower East Side. Psychologist Robin Herbst-Paparn was sitting on the couch when she heard a loud crash outside her window. According to the woman, at that moment she saw Flaco, who was cooling his claws on the air conditioner and looking at the horizon. “I think he was just admiring the life of the city,” she said.

On the subject: Wild Animals in New York: How to Handle Them Safely

Carla Bloom, executive director of the International Owl Center, said Flaco's desire to gain a vantage point atop a window air conditioning unit more than a dozen stories off the ground matches the bird's natural instincts.

“Owls often nest on cliff ledges, and I imagine if you're in an urban jungle, having air conditioners on the side of tall buildings is about the same as instinctively looking for a potential nest site on a cliff,” she said.

Marriage games or are we not his type?

As for Flaco's newfound peeping habit, Bloom says being raised in captivity means he likely isn't afraid of people and can just "watch people, look for potential mates, look at pets in apartments or whatever." then again..”

“Owls are curious, just like cats,” she said. While Flaco's behavior could be chalked up to instinctive behavior and curiosity, Bloom says there's a chance he's become so used to people that he may even be looking for a mate. “Then he might try to land on people's heads to copulate,” she says, citing the example of an eagle owl that escaped from the Netherlands, which thus earned the nickname “cute owl.”

The 13-year-old eagle owl seems to have a thing for the high life, having been spotted in a tree near the Plaza Hotel and atop the iconic 241 Central Park West high-rise. Less than three weeks after the escape, Central Park Zoo officials have given up trying to recapture him, but they will “continue to monitor Flaco and his activities and stand ready to renew efforts to return the owlet if he shows any signs of difficulty or distress.”

The NYPD even got in on the fun, posting on the night of his escape on February 2nd after trying in vain to catch the “smart little guy.” “Well, it was fun. We tried to help this little smart guy, but he got tired of his large audience and flew away.” @NYCParks Rangers on alert - he was last seen flying south on 5th Avenue,” the city police department said in a statement.