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Osprey

Osprey

Pandion haliaetus

Identify the Osprey by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Osprey is a large, long-winged fish-eating raptor found on every continent except Antarctica. Dark brown above and mostly white below with a bold dark eye stripe, it lives around lakes, rivers and coasts. It hovers over water and plunges feet-first to seize fish, gripping them with spiny foot pads and a reversible outer toe. It is the only member of its family.

Did you know?

  • Together with owls it is one of the few raptors that can reverse its outer toe.
  • It carries fish head-first to reduce air resistance.

Voice

Sound

About the species

Identification

A large raptor with very long, narrow wings and a relatively short, square tail. Its flight silhouette is distinctive: the wings are slightly angled with long outer wings showing four “fingers”. The underparts are mostly white with a brown breast band (usually broader in females), dark carpal patches on the underwing, dark brown upperparts and a dark eye stripe on a white head. Young birds have pale tips to the upperpart feathers, making the back look scaly.

Family

Pandionidae

Size

Very large (swan)

Colours

brown, white, black, yellow

About the habitat

Near open, fish-rich waters – lakes, rivers, reservoirs, coasts and estuaries – with tall trees or other elevated sites for nesting nearby.

Diet

Almost exclusively live fish taken at or just below the surface, choosing whatever is locally abundant and of manageable size.

Behaviour

Circles and hovers over water, then plunges feet-first to grab fish, shaking off water in mid-air and carrying the fish head-first. In flight its angled wings with drooping “hands” give a gull-like look, and it gives sharp, whistled calls, especially near the nest. It builds a large stick nest on a treetop, cliff, pylon or platform and reuses it for years. Many northern populations migrate.

Sources

Photo: Chuck Homler / Focus On Wildlife, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Osprey Perched Snag Heislerville.jpg

Sound: Pascal Christe, XC1169889, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/1169889

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osprey

See also