You might get the impression that we at SDTN are mostly interested in fish and marine mammals. We recently noticed that some important seabirds were missing from our site, and we decided to do something about it. Today, we're going to take a look at the Osprey - a magnificent bird you're going to find absolutely irresistible.
Osprey Facts
Sometimes referred to as seahawks, fish-hawks, or fish eagles, ospreys are birds of prey. These raptors reach a size of about 24 inches long; in addition, their wingspans are impressive, normally reaching about 71 inches long - that's just a little shy of six feet.
Ospreys like to nest near bodies of water where food is abundant. These birds are found on all continents with the exception of Antarctica; and in South America, they are non-breeding migrants. There are a number of subspecies; however in general, these raptors have dark chocolate brown upper parts and white breasts. Their heads are white with dark masks that cover the eyes and reach around to the sides of the neck, and the feet are light colored with black talons. Ospreys have distinctive amber colored eyes; like other raptors, they possess keen eyesight. The birds normally sight their prey while flying 10 to 40 meters above the water; capable of seeing fish below the surface, they spot their prey, then drop out of the air to plunge into the water feet first. The nostrils close during dives, which tend to last only a few seconds. To see the osprey capturing a large fish is a truly amazing experience!
When in flight, Ospreys have an almost gull-like appearance, as the wings arch. Their distinctive calls set them apart, however; they do not shriek while flying as gulls do. Instead, they often give a series of shrill whistles while perching; when nesting, they give a frenzied call that makes land-based predators think twice about going near the nest site.
Next to the Peregrine Falcon, the Osprey is the second-most distributed raptor. Populations can be found in Europe and north into Scotland and Scandinavia during the summer, the birds like to spend winter in North Africa; North American populations are sometimes sedentary, though they do breed from Alaska and Newfoundland all the way south to Florida. Some North American Ospreys winter in the southern U.S; others choose to fly to Argentina to spend the winter.
Ospreys normally mate for life. They build large nests on platforms or in trees; the female normally lays between 2 and 4 eggs, which she incubates for about 5 weeks prior to hatching. Newly hatched chicks weigh just about two ounces, yet they grow rapidly and fledge in 8 to 10 weeks. Ospreys tend to live between 7 and 10 years, though some individuals live to be 20 to 25 years old.
Thanks to sound conservation efforts, Ospreys are not threatened - in fact, these beautiful birds are of Least Concern on IUCN's red list of endangered species. This is great news, because during the 1950's and 1960's, Ospreys were threatened due to the toxic effect pesticides like DDT had on reproduction. The Osprey is more than just a magnificent bird - this species is living proof that applied conservation methods really do work - and for that, we're thankful.