. General Osprey Discussion .

[Oceansong-Direwolf]

The Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), sometimes known as the sea hawk or fish eagle, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching 60 centimetres (24 in) in length with a 2 m wingspan. It is brown on the upperparts and predominantly greyish on the head and underparts, with a black eye patch and wings.

The Osprey tolerates a wide variety of habitats, nesting in any location near a body of water providing an adequate food supply. It is found on all continents except Antarctica although in South America it occurs only as a non-breeding migrant.

As its other common name suggests, the Osprey's diet consists almost exclusively of fish. It has evolved specialised physical characteristics and exhibits unique behaviour to assist in hunting and catching prey. As a result of these unique characteristics, it has been given its own taxonomic genus, Pandion and family, Pandionidae. Four subspecies are usually recognised. Despite its propensity to nest near water, the Osprey is not a sea-eagle.

Classification
The Osprey is unusual in that it is a single living species that occurs nearly worldwide. Even the few subspecies are not unequivocally separable. There are four generally recognised subspecies, although differences are small, and ITIS only lists the first two.
P. h. haliaetus (Linnaeus, 1758), Eurasia.
P. h. carolinensis (Gmelin, 1788), North America. This form is larger, darker bodied and has a paler chest than nominate haliaetus.
P. h. ridgwayi (Maynard, 1887), Caribbean islands. This form has a very pale head and chest compared with nominate haliaetus, with only a weak eye mask. It is non-migratory. Its scientific name commemorates American ornithologist Robert Ridgway.
P. h. cristatus (Vieillot, 1816), coastline and some large rivers of Australia and Tasmania. The smallest subspecies, also non-migratory.

Description
The Osprey is 0.9–2.1 kilograms (2.0–4.6 lb) in weight and 50–66 centimetres (20–26 in) long with a 127–180 centimetres (4.2–6 ft) wingspan. The upperparts are a deep, glossy brown, while the chest is white and sometimes streaked with brown, and the underparts are pure white. The head is white with a dark mask across the eyes, reaching to the sides of the neck. The irises of the eyes are golden to brown, and the transparent nictitating membrane is pale blue. The bill is black, with a blue cere, and the feet are white with black talons. A short tail and long, narrow wings with four long, finger-like feathers, and a shorter fifth, give it a very distinctive appearance.

The genders appear fairly similar, but the adult male can be distinguished from the female by its slimmer body and narrower wings. The chest band of the male is also weaker than that of the female, or is non-existent, and the underwing coverts of the male are more uniformly pale. It is straightforward to determine the gender in a breeding pair, but harder with individual birds.

The juvenile Osprey may be identified by buff fringes to the plumage of the upperparts, a buff tone to the underparts, and streaked feathers on the head. During spring, barring on the underwings and flight feathers is a better indicator of a young bird, due to wear on the upperparts.

In flight, the Osprey has arched wings and drooping "hands", giving it a gull-like appearance. The call is a series of sharp whistles, described as cheep, cheep or yewk, yewk. If disturbed by activity near the nest, the call is a frenzied cheereek!

Source of (more) information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osprey

[Kivia]

I see osprey all the time here in DE. I actually saw an osprey nest out on a large overhanging highway sign, and saw a parent fly up to it right when we were going by the sign. I know they also get osprey patients at the bird rescue I help out at, and we need to make sure we have fish because of their almost exclusive fish diet.

[ChickenLuver]

Ospreys are beautiful birds. I have seen people build platforms on the top of telephone poles near the ocean so they can build their nests, almost every one is used by an osprey! Their nests just get so huge! it can actually be dangerous when they get blown off! i just love these birds, they are so amazing and dazzling!

[Flamesky]

I've seen ospreys in the summer, near lakes and rivers. There are platforms that they build their nests on and I've actually seen fledglings perched on the nest one time. Ospreys are my favorite birds.

[wolfman200789]

I think ospreys are cool. Were I live i only see them in the summer. In fact at an indian reservation my family and i go to theres an osprey nest by the river that we swim in. In fact we practicly swim underneath it. Two years ago me my sister and our friends walked along the riverbank and found what were probablly osprey eggs that had been eaten by predators. Last year down by the river i got some awesome photography shots of the osprey that nest there every year.

Nesting
Ospreys build large nests near water, on top of dead trees or artificial structures that are similar to dead trees, such as utility or nesting poles. Nests are made of branches, sticks, and twigs, lined with smaller twigs, grasses, bark, moss, fish bones, and other material. They will reuse nests year after year and continue to add sticks each year, ending up with a huge nest. Nests may be more than seven feet across and over five feet deep. The female typically lays 3 eggs, although clutch sizes between 2 and 4 eggs are normal. Both members of the pair incubate the eggs for 38-43 days. After the young hatch, the female stays with them, and the male brings food. Once the young can be left alone, both parents provide food. The young do not fledge until they are 44-59 days old

http://www.birdweb.org/birdweb/bird/osprey