Osprey Bird of Prey
A top predator and keystone species
Osprey, Pandion haliaetus, is a medium raptor and is one of few land bird species that are cosmopolitan, that is, it occurs naturally in many countries, and it occurs on every world land mass except Antarctica.
Cosmopolitan land birds are the Great Egret Ardea alba, the Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis, the Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus, the Barn Owl Tyto alba, the Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus, and the Osprey Pandion haliaetus (Monti, et al., 2015).
With a length of 20 to 25”, 50 to 65cm, and a wing span of 5.5 feet. 1.7m, the Osprey makes an impressive sight.
They are also known as sea hawks, river hawks, fish hawks, and sea eagles.
It is an exceptional raptor in being able to fly over several hundred kilometres of open water. Migration is usually on a broad front, flying and foraging as well as stopover periods (Monti, 2021).
Ospreys are specialized as a piscivore, feeding on fish, but will use both freshwater and marine environments.
It enters the water feet first when hunting, using its talons to catch fish and then flying with the fish held below.
The Osprey is highly specialized in its hunting of fish. Its large feet have short spines across the base and toes, with long talons, these together with a flexible outer toe, allow the osprey to grip a fish.
However, the foot spines and long talons can make walking difficult and they also generally only perch on thick branches.
The Osprey is a raptor at the top of the food chain, a keystone species, and as such is also an indicator of the health of an ecosystem.
Osprey depends on suitable coastal habitat, free from predation by humans, and an abundance of fish prey without increased water turbidity, pollution, or turbulence (Clancy, 2005).
The bird breeds in winter, making a stick and seaweed nest in trees or rock outcrops.
Some populations are known to migrate long distances, while others are more sedentary, resident individuals, traveling small distances for interbreeding.
The Osprey is currently globally listed as ‘Least Concern’ by The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN, 2021), but it still requires maintenance of habitats and conservation across its distribution range.
Further reading. You might like this one: Wedge-tailed Eagle Australia’s Largest Raptor | by Peter Miles | Age of Awareness | Medium
References:
Clancy, G. P. (2005). Feeding behaviour of the Osprey Pandion haliaetus on the north coast of New South Wales. Corella, 29(4), 91–96 Cor-Vol29-Pg91–96-Osprey.pdf (absa.asn.au)
Gower, P. (2012). Fleurieu Birds What to see and where to see them. Malaysia: Axiom Publishing. Book.
IUCN. (2021). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2021–3. https://www.iucnredlist.org. Accessed on 22 June 2022 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Monti, F. (2021). Osprey Pandion haliaetus. In Migration strategies of birds of prey in Western Palearctic (pp. 11–21). CRC Press. Book.
Monti, F., Duriez, O., Arnal, V., Dominici, J. M., Sforzi, A., Fusani, L., … & Montgelard, C. (2015). Being cosmopolitan: evolutionary history and phylogeography of a specialized raptor, the Osprey Pandion haliaetus. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 15(1), 1–15. Google Scholar Being cosmopolitan: evolutionary history and phylogeography of a specialized raptor, the Osprey Pandion haliaetus | BMC Ecology and Evolution | Full Text (biomedcentral.com)
