The first osprey I ever really noticed was just off a little muddy lake in the middle of south central Wyoming’s Red Desert some decades ago. It was mid-summer and I was wandering the desert trying to convince some very nice antelope bucks that I wasn’t really out there scouting them for a fall hunt with my shiny newly-drawn permit. As I looked up from the water, I noticed two young, downy white birds in a stickpile on top of a rusty old drilling platform. They were already bigger than most hawks, and the bird that flew over seemed as big as an eagle. It didn’t look like any eagle I knew. I watched it land at the platform of sticks, pull strips from the fish it held, and feed the oversize fuzz-balls. Ospreys have fascinated me ever since.
Homeys still talk about the “Fio Rito Show!” a decade or so back. During one of those June Free Fishing Weekends, blue herons, red-winged and yellow-headed blackbirds, cormorants and hawks were in and around us the whole time. The star of that show, though, was an osprey (most likely a male, since they do most of the hunting during the nesting season).
We watched him patiently circle the lake and sweep the creek to the east, looking for fishy food. We figured he had a mate on an egg clutch nearby or was getting food for new hatchlings. At any rate, each time he snatched a trout from the water, a couple dozen people came to attention.
Ospreys are often called “fish hawks” (that primary fish diet), but they are really small eagles with big wingspans. Sometimes they’re mistaken for bald eagles, because of the white plumage on their heads. Most anytime, their unique behavior make them thrilling to watch.
You may have watched ospreys hover 50 to 100 feet above the water and then dive headlong – maybe even clear under the water – after a meal. Their eyes have a special protective covering for such dives and it helps them to see prey under the surface. There’s enough oil on their feathers to dive in, grab a fish, bob back to the surface and take off…but not enough to float or swim. The osprey is the only raptor whose front talons turn backwards, something it probably developed to aid it in catching fish.
As mentioned above, the male does most of the hunting. And hunt he must: he feeds his mate from the time they set up housekeeping. Once they have a brood (two to four), he may have to provide six pounds of fish a day. Fledglings grow fast. They will be flying and hunting by mid-August. By late September they will all head to Chile or Argentina, where most of ours winter over. The young birds may remain there up to 18 months before starting annual trips north.
As always, in keeping with the wishes of the Science Education Committee of the Reecer Creek Rod, Gun, Working Dog & Outdoor Think Tank Benevolent Association, I include the following. Osprey’s scientific name is Pandion haliaetus Linnaeus. It is mostly dark above and white underneath, with black “wrist” patches. The osprey is easily identified in flight by the angular shape of those wrists in the wings. Look for the slow deep wing beats of arched wings spanning up to nearly six feet. As with most all raptors, the female will be larger than the male, weighing something less than four pounds. The osprey prefers open waterways, lakes and shore areas, where it finds the fish and crustaceans on which it makes its living. Of course, it will eat a rodent or bird, too, given the chance.
You may see ospreys – or their mostly manmade nest platforms – near water most anywhere in the state, but some of the easiest to observe are along the Yakima River through most of the county. Every time you watch one hunting or on its nest, it will be a brand new experience. Find a safe place to pull over, get out the binocs, and let yourself be entertained for a while.
Our ospreys are in good numbers. The most common danger they face is entanglement with fishing line and bailing twine from diving or gathered as nest material. On average, it seems, a fledgling or two are lost every couple years.
Ask Deborah Essman – Bird Whisperer of Paradise – about these wonderful birds and she’ll likely tell you about their “velcro feet,” the tiny barbs, or spicules, which enable them to grip the slimiest of slimy fish. Then, if you are lucky, she’ll pass along the same observation about ospreys that famed wildlife photographer Leonard Lee Rue III made about wild turkeys; they are largely right-footed. She may even close her eyes and watch – in her mind’s eye – an osprey dive feet first while leaning forward, then describe to you the sense of wonder she experiences seeing a large beautiful raptor fearlessly hit the water and emerge with a fish.
Go to that amazing ARKive.com YouTube video or anywhere online. See ospreys dive for fish, shake themselves like dog after coming out of the water while carrying a fish heavier than themselves. Check out www.youtube.com/embed/nA3LtXnNIto?feature=player_embedded. Watch ospreys doing what they were born (hatched?) to do.
Happy osprey season.
