Living

NEW YORK — If owls represent wisdom, as folklore dictates, then perhaps Brooklyn and Manhattan are no place for sages.

The great horned owl, one of the largest and most powerful raptors in North America, has not successfully nested in either borough since records started being kept more than 100 years ago.

But this year, two pairs have raised hopes among birders, exhibiting pre-nesting behavior — roosting together, mostly — at Green-Wood Cemetery and Prospect Park in Brooklyn, and at Inwood Hill Park in Manhattan.

In fact, the great horned owl population across New York City is slowly expanding, though exact numbers are difficult to come by because the birds are so good at hiding, said Bob DeCandido, otherwise known as "Birding Bob," who leads bird-watching walks throughout the city.

Great horned owls — just one New York animal species among many enjoying an urban resurgence — prefer big trees, so their habitat has increased as the woodlands in the city's parks have grown older. They also have plenty of food to eat, such as rats, squirrels, rabbits and skunks.

"Old-growth woods, big tree cavities, reasonable prey base," DeCandido said, describing the owls' nesting needs.

Birders are hoping the great horned owl's New York story could become a 21st-century version of that of the red-tailed hawk, a similarly sized raptor that was believed to have never bred in modern-day Manhattan until the arrival of the celebrity bird Pale Male in the early 1990s.

"You could consider them almost alter egos of one another," said Mike Feller, chief naturalist for the city's parks department. "One is the daytime top predator in its particular habitat, and the other is the nighttime top predator."

DeCandido said that last year there were at least a half-dozen pairs of the owls in the Bronx along with one in Alley Pond Park in Queens and several on Staten Island. A nesting pair was also observed on South Brother Island just offshore from the Rikers Island prison.

"They're big birds; they need about 200-plus acres," said Debbie Becker, a naturalist at the botanical garden. She has named all of the nesting owls she has seen at the garden over the last 26 years, including "Robust," a huge female, and "Junior," who bears a passing resemblance to Jack Nicholson circa "The Shining."

In Manhattan, individual great horned owls have occasionally made brief appearances, but there have been no confirmed nests going back to the 19th century. On Dec. 17, though, an "Owl Prowl" in Inwood Hill Park led by Feller turned up two great horned owls hooting to each other, a sign of courtship.

On a recent Friday, just before the owls would have begun the nesting process, Feller went back but could not find them. Nonetheless, he said there was a "good possibility" that the pair in Inwood Hill Park would lay eggs this year.

The next Monday, in Pelham Bay Park, he saw a great horned owl roughly 70 feet up in the hollow of a bare tree. The owl, about 2-feet tall with a white bib and large ear tufts, glared straight ahead with big, catlike eyes before silently flying to a nearby tree branch. A few minutes later, it took off out of sight.

"Mission accomplished," Feller said.

In Brooklyn, a pair of great horned owls showed up about four years ago and have since tried to nest at least twice in Green-Wood Cemetery and once in Prospect Park, where they laid eggs last year. They have not yet succeeded, local bird-watchers believe, largely because of intrusion from people and dogs.

The Brooklyn owls have been seen roosting together again this year.

"If you find a nest, you don't want to tell the whole birding world," DeCandido said. "Do your best to keep it a secret until the bird fledges."

Experts also caution against standing near nests and against imitating the owl's vocalizations, as this can disrupt courtship and cause stress. Young owls on the forest floor are being guarded by the parents and do not need human assistance.

"A great horned owl would probably fight off a German shepherd if that was the situation," Feller said.

Barn owls and screech owls are known to nest across the city, but not in great numbers.

These days, DeCandido noted, there are more than a half-dozen red-tailed hawk nests in Manhattan. And if they can do it, the thinking goes, the great horned owls can, too. DeCandido said he hoped to be able to show more people the glory of the owl in the years to come.

"Owls do something to people," he said. "People are fascinated with them."