Bird Bio: Osprey
Some weeks, deciding on a blog topic prove difficult, with me not knowing what I am going to write about until Friday afternoon. Fortunately for my sanity, not all weeks are like that, and sometimes the topics seem to choose themselves. Last Sunday morning found me in a tent on the Tennessee side of Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, staring up at the sky as four Ospreys wheeled in the sky overhead calling at one another. For once, I actually had the right camera and lens combination, so I got myself up and walked to a nearby Osprey nest I remembered finding on a previous visit. (Without my camera)
Sunrise Over Land Between the Lakes
Photo by Eli Haislip
Note: There is another active Osprey nest on the island as of writing this!
The nest was still there, although instead of one bird in it, there were two! I waded out into the water for a better photograph, and while I was there, a third bird flew back to the nest, loudly calling the entire time. My first thought was that this was likely one of the parents returning, however a closer look at its feathers and amber colored eyes (adults have yellow eyes) told me it was another juvenile! Getting to see this spectacle was even better than the cool morning breeze blowing in off the water!
Adult Osprey (left) and Two Juveniles
Photo by Eli Haislip
Back in the comfort of my air conditioned home, I settled onto the couch to begin my background research and my respect for these birds grew all the more! They are quite the accomplished travelers, racking up enough air miles during their life to circle the globe 6 and half times! According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the average individual will log upwards of 160,000 migration miles over the course of its two decade average lifespan. They don’t dawdle, either, with one GPS tagged bird making the 2700 mile trek from Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts all the way to French Guiana in northern South America in only 13 days!
Adult Osprey in Flight
Photo by Eli Haislip
Osprey can be found all over the world, from North and South America to Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. Here in Tennessee, Ospreys typically begin to arrive in early March, stay through the breeding season, and then depart south again in November.
During the spring and summer months, the best places to look for Osprey are along lakes, rivers, and other bodies of water. Unique among raptors, (birds of prey) an Osprey eats almost exclusively fish, with it making up 99% of its diet, according to Cornell. They will soar above the water, sometimes stopping to hover, before diving down with legs and razor sharp talons extended to splash down upon their unsuspecting prey. Most of the fish they catch range between 6-13 inches in length, although the largest recorded osprey catch was a fish weighing 2.5 pounds. Studies show that they have a very high rate of success when hunting, between 25% and 70%. That alone is likely enough to make anybody reading this who has ever dipped a line in the water envious!
An Osprey Clutching Its Catch
Photo by Eli Haislip
Ospreys construct large nests out of sticks, lined with bark, grasses, and algae. They will return to and reuse nests, adding to them each year until the nests grow extremely large; large enough for one of us to sit in! Males generally gather the material for the nest, and the female will then arrange it to her liking.
They will have one brood per year, with it typically consisting of 1-4 eggs. The first chick to hatch will hatch up to 5 days before the rest, giving it a head start over its siblings. In years where there is plenty of food, this doesn’t prove to be a problem, however when food is scarce, the older chick can outcompete its younger siblings. Incubation lasts 36-42 days (for comparison, the Eastern bluebird will have completed one nesting and had time to start on a second in the same amount of time) with the nestling period taking up another 50-55 days.
Osprey Nest
Photo by Eli Haislip
Note the large sticks and twigs making up the body of the nest.
This Week’s Special: Window Mounted Birdfeeders 20% Off
In our opinion, there are few ways that build appreciation for our feathered friends quite like seeing them up close and personal. Normally, this would be where I would pound our Use Your Binoculars drum, but this week, I have another suggestion. Have you ever considered a window mounted bird feeder? These are small feeders that attach to your window by way of suction cups, affording you an up close detailed look at your feeder.
These make a great gift for the kid in your life that loves birds and can’t get enough of watching them. I speak from personal experience when I say with school starting back soon, there’s nothing to get a child through the tedium and mild anxiety of get-to-know-each other activities like knowing they can come home after a long first day of school and observe at a bald Cardinal feeding from 6 inches away.
Maybe you don’t know the kid that I am describing. Do you personally know any cats? Do you have any friends with cats? Window mounted bird feeders go by another name here at the shop… Cat TV. Cats will watch the feeder for hours, mesmerized. Not only will it give them something to do, it generally rubs off on their humans, too!
All our current models of window mounted bird feeders are 20% off through Friday, August 8th, so come by and get yours while supplies last!
P.S.
These also make a great gift for somebody who might enjoy the concept of the different camera bird feeders, but don’t want the hassle of having to keep their feeder charged, connected to WiFi, and creating yet another account.