Carl Safina, Long Island's 'owl whisperer,' talks about his new book, 'Alfie & Me'
Ecologist Carl Safina discusses his new book, "Alfie and Me," near his home in Setauket in June. Credit: Johnny Milano
When Carl Safina was about 7 years old, he remembered seeing a nature program on TV that dealt with endangered animals. Unfamiliar with that term, he asked his father what "endangered" meant.
"He said it meant there’s almost none left. And I said, 'That’s really bad, maybe someday I could help with that in some way,' " Safina recalled.
He kept his word. Safina, an ecologist and onetime ornithologist who lives in Setauket, recounts the experience of how he and his wife, Patricia, rescued and rehabilitated a screech owl in his charming and poignant book "Alfie and Me" (W.W. Norton & Co., $32.50). Safina, who could easily be called "the owl whisperer," was happy to talk about Alfie and their special connection.
Ecologist Carl Safina listens for a return call from Alfie, the owl he rescued, outside his Setauket home. Credit: Johnny Milano
When did you become interested in birds?
As a child I raised homing pigeons from the time I was 7 until I was 10 and we moved from Brooklyn. Then I got into falconry as an adolescent. … When I was in high school, a kid found out there was a guy who did bird banding on Fire Island. That was my first brush with something like professional work with birds, even though he was not paid to do that. But he was an expert and we helped him. I saw lots of birds that I didn’t even know existed in those nests during migration. … There's something like 300 species that could be found on Long Island. That experience really opened me up as far as that was concerned.
How did Alfie end up in your care?
Someone found her on a front lawn when she was about two weeks away from leaving the nest. They leave the nest when they’re about a month old. … She looked so bedraggled and was so near death. A rehabber who got her sent me a text message saying, "Do you know what kind of bird this is?" I did a double take and thought it was an owl. … The rehabber came to pet sit for the dogs and the chickens that we have. It was around the time that the bird should have been ready for release, and the rehabber had to go overseas for an extended fellowship and I said, well, I think we’ll manage the release for you.
Obviously, Alfie didn't get released at that point?
This owl had this development delay. We had her for a while until she got her feathers, very belatedly, and then molted them properly. Until she molted and got new feathers, I wasn’t even sure if she’d be releasable. They came perfectly. At that she could fly and we could release her. But I was afraid that because her development wasn’t as gradual as normal that she would just bolt and we’d never see her again. Then her chances of surviving would not be good. She did leave for about a week and then she showed up again, and she’s never really left.
“Alfie and Me” is a new book by Setauket ecologist Carl Safina about how he rescued and rehabilitated a screech owl named Alfie. Credit: W.W. Norton & Co.
How long did it take you to write the book?
I keep a journal, so from the first time that we encountered this little baby owl I was just taking notes. … I certainly had no idea that she would stick around our yard and find a mate and raise what is several broods. She’s put 10 young owls out in the world. She’s 5 years old at this point. Once she had her first brood, I realized that’s a really nice story and it’s a story with a happy ending.
I guess thanks to the pandemic you actually had the time to write the book.
That made the entire book possible. … A normal year for me involves being away a lot. So being able to sit there and observe was a gigantic stroke of luck that coincided with her year of independence and that first mate and that first brood. And the other stroke of luck I’m starting to appreciate is how easy that first brood was to observe once they left the nest. The next two were really difficult.
Alfie makes an appearance after ecologist Carl Safina calls for her outside his Setauket home. Credit: Johnny Milano
How long do owls generally live?
I knew a screech owl that could not be released that lived for 16 years. In the wild, 10 would be really old.
You talk about the mating process and in particular, how different Alfie's first and second mates were.
The first mate, we saw him a lot. He fed her all the time and we could often find where he was roosting. … This one, I think we saw him twice before the eggs hatched. He’s very elusive. … Owls are individuals, they’re not just marbles, and they have different levels of skills and hunting specialties.