GCE Animal Series – The Osprey

The GCE Animal Series Presents The Osprey

pandion haliaetus

Fewer things are as neat, in this writer’s opinion, as seeing an Osprey flying overhead while you are on the boat. You can tell if you are looking at a Fish Hawk by the brown and white of their body!

The Osprey’s body is usually white, and they have brown wings. They also have a very telling brown strip across their eyes, giving them away as an Osprey.

Ospreys, aka Fish Hawks, are birds of prey that hunt fish right out of the river. They hover over the river, and when they find fish in the water, they dive for them. They’ve also been known to chase other birds (like Eagles) away from their territory, mostly to protect their food source.

Ospreys are very pretty birds of prey, and below we go more in-depth about these awesome Fish Hawks.

Identification

• Length: 21.33 – 22.8″
• Weight: 49.4 – 70.5 oz
• Wingspan: 59.1 – 70.9″
• Marked kink in wings, giving M shape when flying
• Large hawk, but narrow, long wings and legs
• Brown on top, white on bottom, white head with a big brown stripe across the eye.
  

Behavior and Diet

• Dives feet first to grab fish
• Flies slowly over water, hovers, and then dives for fish.
• Lives near bodies of water
• Diet is almost entirely fish
• Chases other birds of prey for feeding rights to an area
  

Reproduction

• Lays 2-4 eggs
• Both parents incubate the eggs
• Build on nests each year so they keep getting bigger
• Male brings fish, female feeds the babies
• Have one brood per year
• Young fly 51-54 days after hatching.
  

So when you are on the river, keep an eye out for a Fish Hawk, and you might just see him catch his dinner!

For more information, visit the National Park Website here