Operation Osprey: What a Bird!

I learned that the osprey is truly a fascinating bird and they have personality plus. Young osprey have brown feathers with white tips on their back and upper wings, a white terminal tail band. The body underneath is white. Their eyes are red to red-orange which changes to yellow as they mature.

Adult birds are brown above, have a white head with a dark crown and a dark eye stripe. Underneath is white with dark wrist patches and wing tips. Females have a "necklace" of dark streaks across the breast. Osprey feet are uniquely designed for grasping and carrying fish, with outer toes reversible. This allows them to grasp with two toes on both sides of their prey. Bottom of the foot is covered with rough scales to hold on to slippery fish. Their talons are impressive, equal in length, very strong and sharp pointed. Females are larger than males. Birds average 22-25 inches body length with wing spans of 58-72 inches. Click this Pelotes Island Nature Preserve website to see a good photo of an adult osprey and hear an osprey call.

When an osprey spots a fish, it positions its wings almost straight up over its back, then it drops swiftly, feet first and legs straight, into the water. It may strike the water at 30-70 mph and go under as much as three feet, but these birds are very bouyant and they bring those strong wings downward to thrust up to the surface. A small fish is carried in one foot and a large fish with both feet, turning it so it faces forward for less wind resistance. The meal is carried to a favorite perch to eat or to the nest to feed young and the female. Father osprey is a hard-working bird.

Ospreys mate for life and they often use the same nest year after year. The male carries large sticks and other items and the female usually arranges things as she wants them. I saw a film of a male who spotted a stick he wanted for the nest, but it was still attached to a tree. He flew at it and grasped it with his feet to break it off. That didn't work the first time, so he tried again and again. Finally, he had to give up and settle for something smaller.

Ospreys build nests on the tops of trees, but if trees aren't available, a

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