A pair of burrowing owls that hitched a ride to Spain aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship sailing from PortMiami earlier this year will soon be back in Florida.
The stowaways were discovered hanging out in a leafy park on one of the world’s largest cruise ships in February, according to Royal Caribbean, and netted by crew members. When the ship arrived in Cartagena 10 days later, cruise officials contacted local wildlife agents because the owls are a protected species. Once U.S. officials got word, they notified the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
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Why the pint-sized birds that normally favor solid ground wound up sailing the high seas remains a mystery.
”How they got there and why they chose to land there, that was just owl discretion,” said Natalie Montero-McAllister, FWC's imperiled species coordinator.
However, she suspects the park, towering well above the busy, urban port on the ship's eighth deck, likely enticed them. Owls eat small rodents, insects, lizards and other amphibians and even crayfish, so it’s possible they spotted nearby food.
”Them being in the Port of Miami is not crazy,” she said. “I don't know how many sightings there have been, but there are sightings around the area of burrowing owls.”
Two years ago, a burrowing owl was reported in Lummus Park in nearby Miami Beach, according to iNaturalist. And seven months after the ship sailed, one was spotted in the South of Fifth neighborhood, at the southern end of South Beach. Others have been seen on Key Biscayne.
It’s also not the first time a burrowing owl has stowed away on a cruise ship at the port, Montero-McAllister said. In 2023, an owl hitched a ride on a ship bound for Mexico and was captured once it returned to Miami. In 2022, a cruise ship passenger snapped a picture of an owl during a Caribbean cruise.
Aboard the Allure of the Seas, an 18-deck ship that can hold up to 5,700 passengers, the owls quickly drew a fan club.
“As of midday today the famed owl of Central Park has been captured and is being fed steak and water,” one passenger wrote on Reddit. Another posted photos of the owls perched amid asparagus fern and in an umbrella tree. Another passed along a message from her parents aboard the ship, who said one of the owls had paid a visit to the adults-only solarium. “It’s been exciting!” they wrote.
One of the owls briefly escaped after being captured before being returned to a cardboard box, with tiny windows cut out, where the crew were holding them. Staff were later given instructions by animal experts on how to better care for them, with plans to offload the owls in Cartagena, another posted.
“Owls well that ends well,” the user wrote.
It’s not clear how old the owls are or if they were nesting when they boarded the ship, Montero-McAllister said. Nesting season usually extends from February through July. The owls typically return to the same burrow year after year – in fact their numbers plummeted as their habitat got plowed over for development over the years. In 1979, the state listed them as a species of concern in need of protection.
The owls prefer sandy ground in forests with open canopy, making it easier to see potential predators. Unlike other owls, they remain active during the day and sleep at night during nesting season and only become nocturnal when they’re not breeding.
For now, the plan is to fly the owls back home next month, with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Foundation helping cover the cost of their return and care. Once healthy, they’ll be released in a suitable location near the port or on land that the foundation helped acquire to provide owl habitat, Montero-McAllister said.
With the latest pair of stowaways, she said biologists are starting to wonder if something about the ship is attracting the owls.
”We don't know why this has happened multiple times now,” she said. “There's no understanding as to where they came from since we don't tag every burrowing owl. So it's not clear.”
