bird cams: to catch a fish

Osprey pair Rachel and Steve make their summer home atop a 30 foot tower located at the Audubon Camp in Maine on Hog Island. Ospreys are birds of prey that rely almost entirely on fish, so they nest and raise their chicks near water. They return to Hog Island each year in early April after wintering in South America.

Rachel is recognized by the striped necklace pattern on her breast. Last year she laid the first of three eggs on April 29, and she did most of the incubation. The chicks hatched in mid June and thousands of people got to watch them grow; both parents brought them fresh fish. The osprey chicks began to fledge in August and finally left for South America in September, 2012. We do not expect the chicks back until 2014, but Rachel & Steve have returned to this nest many times in the spring.

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location: Bremen, Maine

best viewing hours: 7:00am - 8:00pm

time zone: Eastern Time

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migration / Young Ospreys make their first migration alone, instinctively knowing where to go without instruction from parents; some Florida Ospreys are non-migratory, staying on territory throughout the year.

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migration / Ospreys often fly more than 5,000 miles round trip between their summer and winter homes.

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migration / Ospreys often return to the same lake, river or coastal winter home each year.

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migration / An Osprey may log more than 160,000 migration miles during its 15-to-20-year lifetime.

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hunting / Ospreys are great fishers - they have a successful capture in one out of four dives.

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hunting / Ospreys are the only raptor whose front talon can pivot backward.

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hunting / Bald Eagles and sometimes Great Black-backed Gulls will chase Ospreys, forcing them to drop their prey; Eagles sometimes catch the stolen prey in mid-air.

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hunting / Ospreys are known as fish hawks because 99.9% of their diet is live fish. They are also known to rarely eat small mammals, snakes, turtles, frogs, sandpipers, and ducks, perhaps when fish are scarce.

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hunting / After snagging fish with their talons, Ospreys shake excess water in mid air and take time to arrange the fish to carry it head first.

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hunting / Sometimes Osprey capture several small fish from a school in a single dive.

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hunting / The largest Osprey catch on record is four pounds, but most fish are 1-2 lb.

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hunting / Osprey lines up its catch head first for less wind resistance.

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hunting / Barbed pads on the soles of Ospreys’ feet help them grip slippery fish when flying.

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family life / Male Ospreys perform an aerial "sky-dance" sometimes called "fish-flight." With dangling legs, often clasping a fish or nesting material in his talons, they alternate periods of hovering with slow, shallow swoops as high as 600 feet or more above the nest site, sustaining this display for 10 minutes or more.

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family life / Female Ospreys are larger than males and usually have a heavily striped chest; males usually have a nearly clear white chest.

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family life / Most Ospreys are faithful to the same mate year after year and return to the same nest.

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family life / Nestling Ospreys grow as large as their parents before they take their first flight.

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family life / Nestling Ospreys have orange irises, in contrast to the lemon yellow irises of adults.

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family life / Nestling Ospreys have a scaled pattern on the wing and back, which mature Ospreys do not have.

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family life / Great Horned Owls have been known to swoop onto nearly full grown Osprey nestlings and carry them out of the nest.

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family life / Parent Ospreys rarely leave their eggs or chicks unprotected – the female stays at the nest while the male provides food.

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family life / A brood of three Osprey chicks requires up to six pounds of fish each day.

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family life / Male Ospreys deliver food to their mates on the nest; the female then feed the young.

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family life / Osprey incubation is 32-42 days, with an average of 38 days. Female Ospreys do most of the sitting, depending on males to provide food. However, some males handle up to 30% of incubation time.

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family life / Female Ospreys do most of the brooding, while the male provides food to the female and young.

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nesting / Ospreys typically return to the same nest year after, adding new sticks and creating a massive nest that may be 10-13’ deep and 6’ across. In Maine, they often line the nest with soft lichens and shredded bark.

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family life / During incubation, female Ospreys spend most of their time rearranging the nest lining.

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nesting / In Maine, Ospreys typically nest in tall trees, but elsewhere, they may nest on rock pinnacles, or even on the ground. Power poles, communication towers, and navigational aids are readily used, as are special nesting platforms such as the Hog Island platform.

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family life / Ospreys can readily adapt to human presence, as illustrated by the Hog Island pair that have become accustomed to curious bird watchers who watch the nest from close proximity.

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nesting / Ospreys obtain sticks to build their nests by snapping off dead branches from trees with their feet.

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nesting / Osprey typically return to the vicinity of their hatching place when they are about two years old; breeding for the first time when three years old.

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nesting / Male Ospreys return closer to their hatching place than do females. Males typically return to within 9-12 miles of their hatching place to eventually nest; females are not as precise, returning to within 20-30 miles of their hatching place.

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family life / Osprey eggs do not hatch all at once. Rather, the first chick emerges up to five days before the last one. This arrangement favors the first hatched chicks which permits them to thrive in years of poor food supplies. In these years, the later hatched chicks perish.

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trivia / The name "Osprey" made its first appearance around 1460, via the Medieval Latin phrase for "bird of prey" (avis prede). Some wordsmiths trace the name even further back, to the Latin for "bone-breaker"—ossifragus.

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trivia / There is only one species of Osprey - it is known from every continent except Antarctica;four subspecies from different continents are known.

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trivia / The oldest known Osprey was 32 years old.

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family life / About 10-15% of Osprey adults die each year and must be replaced for a population to remain stable.This means that pairs need to produce an average of .8 chicks per nest.
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Brash in their show of self-sufficiency, the three juvenile osprey tear into a fish without assistance from their mother.

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