The Book of Flaco: The World's Most Famous Bird

by David Gessner

The story of Flaco, the Eurasian eagle-owl who escaped from Central Park Zoo and captured the hearts and imaginations of millions of followers around the world.


This is a fable of freedom and wildness. Flaco has been dubbed “the world’s most famous bird.” From the night in February of 2023 when vandals cut a hole in his cage until his death a year later in a courtyard on the Upper West Side, his is a story full of adventure and unexpected turns.

Nature writer David Gessner chronicles the year-long odyssey of Flaco—the owl who captured the imaginations of New Yorkers and people around the world. Though he’d spent his life in a cage, Flaco learned street smarts, surviving the mean streets by eating rats. He was an immigrant coming from elsewhere to make it in the big city. Central Park, the island of green in an urban sea, was his new home territory.

Flaco’s wild adventure captured the imagination of so many—unfolding during a time when we too were getting outside and seeing the world after the extended house arrest of COVID. And his end—with a grim necropsy revealing Flaco had suffered a viral infection from eating pigeons and had multiple rodenticides in his system—serves as a Rachel Carson-esque warning about the harm we’ve done to our urban birds.

Genres: Nature, Birds, Nonfiction, Book Club, Animals

280 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2025

About the author

David Gessner is the author of fourteen books that blend a love of nature, humor, memoir, and environmentalism, including the New York Times bestselling, All the Wild That Remains, Return of the Osprey, Sick of Nature and Leave It As It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt’s American Wilderness.

Gessner is the Thomas S. Kenan III Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where he is also the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the literary magazine, Ecotone. His own magazine publications include pieces in the New York Times Magazine, Outside, Sierra, Audubon, Orion, and many other magazines, and his prizes include a Pushcart Prize and the John Burroughs Award for Best Nature Essay for his essay “Learning to Surf.” He has also won the Association for Study of Literature and the Environment’s award for best book of creative writing, and the Reed Award for Best Book on the Southern Environment. In 2017 he hosted the National Geographic Explorer show, "The Call of the Wild."

He is married to the novelist Nina de Gramont, whose latest book is The Christie Affair.

“A master essayist.” –Booklist

“For nature-writing enthusiasts, Gessner needs no introduction. His books and essays have in many ways redefined what it means to write about the natural world, coaxing the genre from a staid, sometimes wonky practice to one that is lively and often raucous.”—Washington Post.

“David Gessner has been a font of creativity ever since the 1980s, when he published provocative political cartoons in that famous campus magazine, the Harvard Crimson. These days he’s a naturalist, a professor and a master of the art of telling humorous and thought-provoking narratives about unusual people in out-of-the way-places."
--The San Francisco Chronicle

Reviews

[Philip Girvan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had not closely followed the Flaco story but was aware something was happening in NYC during 2023. David Gessner’s superb book filled me in.

Though it’s much more than the story of an escaped/liberated thirteen year old Eurasian eagle-owl. It’s the story of humankind’s relationship to the natural world and within the natural world, and the various cages and lens we find ourselves in and place ourselves in. Thoughtfully told with humor and insight. Recommended!

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[Priscilla Kipp · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is David Gessner's love letter to the Eurasian-eagle owl who escaped from New York's Central Park Zoo and enchanted the world with his newfound freedom. You don't have to be birder to follow Flaco in your heart.

[Janventures · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m almost done reading this but have to jump the gun here and give this book 5stars.

Gessner is one of my fave non-fiction writers dating way back to one of the first books of his, Under The Devil’s Thumb followed by the more recent All The Wild That Remains.

His empathy for all of his characters and subjects is exceptional and he never loses sight of the larger context and world they inhabit. His humility throughout is often expressed by his ambivalence in some situations, where other writers might try to impress the reader with their superior analysis or judgement.

Even if you have never set foot in NYC or Central Park, you will find this book captivating. Gotta run … almost finished!

[Jasminegalsreadinglog · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Book of Flaco by David Gessner tells the year-long story of Flaco, the Eurasian owl that escaped the New York Zoo in 2023. With stunning photos, the book explores the tension between wildlife and humanity’s fascination with the wild. The author also travels to Flaco’s natural habitat, and reading about these powerful birds in their true home makes the contrast even more heartbreaking.

Flaco spent twelve years in captivity before vandals cut his cage, setting him loose in the urban jungle. Against all odds, he adapted, hunting pigeons and rats to survive. But in the end, it wasn’t the city itself that killed him. It was the poisons and diseases carried by his prey. Ironically, human interference both freed him and sealed his fate.

This book hit me hard. These birds are magnificent in their native environment, yet we keep them in cages, even in the name of protection. Flaco had the option to return, but he didn’t. That says a lot without saying anything. He made it on his own for a year, but human errors cost him his life. So, are we really helping wildlife, or are we the biggest threat to it? We all know the answer. The real question is: what are we going to do about it? Something to think about before we lose more of nature’s gifts.

Thank you, Kaye Publicity, for this book.

[Kirsten Hawkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hesitated to read this book after meeting the author, who said he had never seen Flaco. I had never seen Flaco either, and I didn't think I'd get much out of it. WOW, was I pleasantly surprised!

This book is an absolutely glorious tribute to an owl with a unique story - and also to the people who followed him, to the people who loved and photographed him, to the people who never saw him and loved him anyway. It's the captivating story of Flaco free in the city. It's not just an in-depth look at the owl, but provides deep and balanced perspective on the ethical questions raised when discussing birding and the human role in wildlife preservation. It's an amazing window into so many lives who were touched by Flaco, and a beautiful portrait of a community trying to do what's best for birds. And it's a surprisingly deep book about what birding means to different people, and how different people process their experiences.

Don't stop before reading the epilogue; it's spectacular, too. I loved this book. It's a must read for anyone interested in owls, birding, and wildlife. And if you missed Flaco as I did, don't miss the book. It's like being there without having been there. Thanks, David, for this gorgeous work.

[Frederick Bingham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for CFRW book club.

This is the story of Flaco, the famous Eurasian Eagle Owl who captured the imagination of New York City for a year in 2023-2024. He escaped from his enclosure at the Central Park Zoo and managed to survive for a year in NYC. He had access to a plentiful number of rats and pigeons to eat and lots of places to perch and hide. He would get followed and harassed by hordes of birdwatchers, both serious and casual. It’s hard to imagine at first thought what might be so interesting about Flaco that it would be enough to write a book about. However, Gessner manages to make the tale about a lot of intersecting topics, wildlife in cities, the ability of animals to learn and adapt to their environment, the human relationship to the natural world, the influence of social media, and the ethics of birdwatching. As the author says near the end: “It showed us that human beings can care about something other than human beings.” (p. 200)

[Lisa Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the fascinating story of Flaco, the escaped owl that lived among New Yorkers for a year before his death and touched the hearts of so many. I loved the map of his travels in the beginning of the book and I learned so much about owls as I read. I found the differing viewpoints of whether or not he should be allowed to stay in the wild very interesting, and there seem to be solid arguments on both sides. Overall, this is a novel that will tug on your heartstrings, amaze and astound you, and leave you contemplating your own thoughts and feelings about captive vs free animals and the current state of our environment.

I received a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Marina Richie · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Gessner writes brilliantly about Flaco-- the book is multi-layered like owl feathers. The outer contour feathers are investigative reporting retracing Flaco's year in the wild. The inner feathers are down--but not fluff--rather the stuff of contemplation--of the ethics of birding, what it means to be wild, the toxicity of our environment that is a call to awareness, and ultimately the meaning of freedom. I particularly enjoyed the epilogue--with Juha in Sweden tracking a Eurasian Eagle-Owl in the wild.

[Mathieu]

An interesting story about an Eurasian eagle-owl which escaped (was let loose) from the zoo in New York City Central Park, what it did to survive, and the people who were enthralled by it. Some interesting insights into big city life, including the birds and rats, and some of the people who live there.

[Laura Pritchett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never knew Flaco, but it doesn't matter. This is a great story about a bird, a community, and about a culture of bird-loving individuals who are struggling to find the best way forward for a bird and for the world. Loved it.

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

As another reader pointed out, this book is a lot of filler-uppers. Would have given it 2 stars but the sections on the ethics of bird watching (and the author's views of NYC bird watchers) and natural history were interesting.

[Kirby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read- a little overfull with filler to make the story book length, but overall an entertaining overview of Flaco’s great escape.

[Daniel Farabaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fine book although it could have been an extended magazine article. There was not that much weight to a lot of the analysis about owls. It was a nice story but not anything significant.

[Catherine Symchych · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. I learned more about the details and dynamics of Flaco’s year, but wasn’t wowed by the book.

[Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

How do you write a book about an escaped owl? You include a lot of information that fills pages. Kind of skipped around but avoided the ones concerning the death and necropsy.