Species Spotlight: Osprey

Scientific Name: Pandion haliaetus

Common Names: fish hawk, sea eagle

Appearance: Large white bellied bird with dark wings and back. Face has a dark mask across cheeks and down onto the neck, beak is black, head is white with a dark crown, legs and feet are a greenish white. Tail is brown and black barred, wings have a distinctive sharp crook at the wrists when in flight. Head feathers often are partially raised, which can give a distinctly unkempt appearance.

Size: Body is 21 to 24 inches long with a wingspread of 54 - 72 inches ( 4 ½ feet to 6 feet). Males can weigh up to 3 pounds, females up to 4 pounds.

Voice: a melodic raspy repeated cheeping that really carries over distance

Range: Alaska and Canada south to California and the Great Lakes, along the Atlantic Coast to Florida and the Gulf Coast. A neo-tropical migratory bird, it winters in South America, Mexico and southernmost portions of the US.

Food Preferences: primarily fish and eels, but will also feed on rodents, birds and crustaceans.

Hunting Technique: frequently perches on a snag or tall tree overlooking water. When it sees a fish it wants it flies 30 to 100 feet up over the area, hovers for a moment then dives headand talons first into the water. Osprey then swims up out of the water (hopefully with the fish) shakes water from body as it gets out of the water then turns the fish to face the direction of flight and flies back to either the perch, favored eating area or to the nest.

Breeding & Habitat: lives along many inland waterways, lakes, seacoasts and bays.

Nesting: can either nest in colonies or singly, usually in large trees near their favored body of water. Will often accept man-made nesting platforms placed in water area, and returns to nesting site year after year. Osprey add to the previous year's nest, and over decades of occupation the nests can become very large, weighing up to half a ton!

Eggs: Incubation begins with first egg laid, the average number of eggs is 3 per clutch. Eggs are white sometimes with a pink tinge, heavily spotted with dark brown splotches and streaks. Male and female both incubate, male brings food to female. Incubation is about 32 days, young begin their first flights at about 52 days after hatching. Reach breeding age at 3 years and mate for life.

Status: On the endangered species list until the mid 1990's due to pesticide poisoning and habitat loss. Thanks to more responsible use of pesticides (especially DDT), active nesting platform construction and hacking programs, the Osprey is making a comeback. Still on the watch list in most states. West Virginia's DNR participated in a hacking program for Osprey in the 1980's and now these birds are seen on many of our larger waterways during the late Spring and Summer.

NOTES: Can live to be over 30 years old in the wild, and are highly intelligent. When Osprey catch a fish, they turn the fish around to face the direction the bird is flying (se Dr. Streit's photo, above). This keeps the fins of the fish from creating excess drag as the bird flies along. Osprey also have very distinctive feet: their toes are all the same length and the outer front toe can rotate around from the front to the back as needed, changing the toe grasping pattern from a 3-1 to a 2-2. This feature plus heavy rough cicular pads on the bottom of each toe (called spicules) gives them a great grasping ability - much needed with slippery fish!