Osprey Tales

Switching off

Bald Eagles and Ospreys never fly together. The male Osprey is defending his nest from the eagle.

Since Eagles share very much the same lifestyle and habitat as the Osprey, these two are often in conflict. They will raid each other’s nest’s, taking the babies of the other. The Eagle often attacks Ospreys in mid-flight to steal his hard-earned fish, so Ospreys take advantage of every opportunity to harass Eagles in return. Neither wants to share prime fishing areas with the other.

This is an Osprey chick “dragging the water”. Osprey do this to clean their talons and to cool down by getting water on their breast feathers. Photo by Kim Taylor

Switching off

Once an osprey catches a fish, it likes to take it to an isolated or elevated site to eat.

They always eat the head off first.

Once in the air, ospreys will arrange the fish so that it is facing upright, head forward.

This reduces aerodynamic drag.

Fishing 

Ospreys catch fish on at least 1 in every 4 dives, with success rates of 70%. The average time spent hunting before making a catch is about 4 minutes.

“Missed”

“Now watch this,” said Harriett.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMw-PspfdkQ