Osprey w/ half-eaten flounder

Osprey w/ half-eaten flounder

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) flying off the nest with a half-eaten flounder in it’s talons. Taken at First Landing State Park, Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA. Equipment used to create this image was a Nikon D2Xs + Nikkor 300mm f2.8 AFS VR lens + Nikkor 1.4x Teleconverter (effective 546 mm focal length with digital conversion factor 1.3 for body), ISO equivalent 400, recorded f-stop 4.5, handheld. The Vibration Reduction (VR) function of this amazing lens is well worth the extra money.

This species is one of the largest birds of prey in North America, eating almost exclusively fish (making it piscivorous). It is one of the most widespread birds in the world, found on all continents except Antarctica.

Description
Large raptor. White breast and belly. Black back and wings.
Long wings, held with wingtips angled slightly backwards.
Dark eyestripe. Crown and forehead white. Golden yellow eyes.

Size: 54-58 cm (21-23 in)
Wingspan: 150-180 cm (59-71 in)
Weight: 1400-2000 g (49.42-70.6 ounces)
Sex Differences
Sexes similar; female larger and tends to have fuller and darker chest band.

Conservation Status
Osprey numbers declined drastically in 1950-1970s, from pesticide poisoning and eggshell thinning. After the ban on DDT, populations increased rapidly. Still listed as endangered or threatened in some states, especially in inland states where populations were small or extirpated after the pesticide years.

Cool Facts
The Osprey readily builds its nest on manmade structures, such as telephone poles, channel markers, duck blinds, and nest platforms designed especially for it. Such platforms have become an important tool in reestablishing Ospreys in areas where they had disappeared. In some areas nests are placed almost exclusively on artificial structures.

Osprey eggs do not hatch all at once, but instead the first chick hatches out up to five days before the last one. The older chick dominates its younger siblings, and can monopolize the food brought by the parents. If food is abundant, little aggression is seen amongst the chicks, but if food is limited, the younger chicks often starve.

The Osprey is a fish-eating specialist, with live fish accounting for about 99% of its diet. Barbed pads on the soles of its feet help it grip slippery fish. When an Osprey takes a large fish to its nest, it carries the fish headfirst to make it as aerodynamic as possible.

Sources used to construct this page:
Poole, A. F., R. O. Bierregaard, and M. S. Martell. 2002. Osprey (Pandion haliaetus). In The Birds of North America, No. 683 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

CLICK HERE for a fascinating website devoted to the study, understanding, and conservation of Ospreys!

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