By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
INWOOD — A dead long-eared owl has left Park Rangers at the Inwood Hill Park Nature Center trying to solve the mystery of what killed it.
The large bird of prey was discovered Monday afternoon, lying on the ground in a leafy area of Inwood Hill Park.
The animal, which was the size of a large turkey, was removed by the Parks Department and sent to the Department of Environmental Conservation for tests to determine the cause of death, according to the Urban Park Rangers of the Parks Department.
The department hopes to solve the mystery within a few weeks.
"It’s important to know what happened as these birds of prey are part of our ecosystem," said a spokesman for the Rangers.
Although owls are often spotted in the park— the only natural forest in Manhattan—a park ranger said that it is unusual to find them during the warmer seasons.
Earlier this year, a long-eared owl made the news when it perched on an Inwood resident’s air-conditioner, allowing the tenant to take a series of photos of the bird in its wide-winged stance.