She's Owl Right! Bird Who Hit a Midtown Building Flies Again

 A rescued long-eared owl was nursed back to health and released in Central Park on Jan. 1, 2018.

Several days after colliding with a building in midtown, a long-eared owl is back in the Manhattan treetops.

Barry Beck, vice president of the pest control company Assured Environments, and employee Paul Abbatantuono spotted the owl lying on a 14th floor setback in midtown Manhattan while responding to a call last week. The pair wrapped the injured foot-long owl in a fleece jacket and brought her via subway to the Wild Bird Fund, a non-profit that rehabilitates sick and injured wildlife in New York City.

Rita McMahon, the director of the Wild Bird Fund, says the bird arrived dazed — but that didn't last long.

"The next day she was like 'yeah, I'm ready to go,'" said McMahon. "So we waited one more day...and we wanted to be sure everything was all right."

McMahon says it's possible that the female owl was migrating to the area, and she may very well spend the winter in New York. 

"Right now we have more prey than further north," she said, "because a lot of the animals there are hibernating. But here they have better food."

The owl was released into Central Park's Pinetum on Monday under a supermoon.

 (with reporting from the Associated Press)