It’s the squawk of the town.
On Monday, for the first time in nearly two years, local celebrity Rover the bald eagle was spotted soaring above the Central Park Reservoir.
“Shortly after I passed the [Park’s] North Gatehouse at 3:50PM, I saw an adult bald eagle flying low and repeatedly circling over the northwest corner of the Reservoir,” David Barrett, creator and manager of Manhattan Bird Alert account on X, told The Post. “I was thrilled, as this had to be Rover!”
The well-regarded raptor was a Reservoir regular in 2022, frequently spotted hunting seagulls and other area creatures in the park. He’s easily identified by a distinctive “R7” banding tag he was given BY WHOM? as an eaglet in 2018.
Avian adorers are celebrating his comeback.
“Rover the Bald Eagle returned this morning to one of his favorite dining destinations, the Central Park Reservoir,” birdwatch Caren Jahre wrote alongside a crisp photo of Rover in a post on X that has attracted more than 28,000 views.
After posing for Jahre’s photo, Rover went on to catch a gull in flight, kill it, and eat it while perched in a tree by the Reservoir, other birders reported.
The bald eagle’s return is a great sign for his species, which neared extinction in the 1970s before conservation efforts, including pesticide bans, brought them back from the brink.
In 1976, it was estimated that there was just one pair of nesting bald eagles left in New York State. Now, there are hundreds of pairs during peak season in the winter, according to NYC Audubon spokesperson Andrew Maas.
“We are proud to see bald eagles like Rover increasingly embracing the city and showing how far New York City has come in terms of improving its environment for birds and people,” Maas told The Post.
As for Rover’s whereabouts during his long absence, Barrett believes the bird went the same route as many of the boroughs’ human denizens and relocated upstate, living and breeding somewhere north of the city, along the Hudson River these past two years.
When cold weather causes upstate water bodies to freeze, many birds fly south to find more open water and prey, Barrett explained.
“The recent cold snap likely made Rover go on a trip back to his old hunting grounds,” he said.