Osprey
Osprey | |
---|---|
An osprey standing on its nest | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Accipitriformes |
Family: | Pandionidae |
Genus: | Pandion |
Species: | P. haliaetus
|
Binomial name | |
Pandion haliaetus | |
Global range of Pandion haliaetus | |
Synonyms | |
Falco haliaetus Linnaeus, 1758 |
The osprey (
The osprey tolerates a wide variety of habitats, nesting in any location near a body of water providing an adequate food supply. It is found on all continents except Antarctica, although in South America it occurs only as a non-breeding migrant.
As its other common names suggest, the osprey's diet consists almost exclusively of fish. It possesses specialised physical characteristics and unique behaviour in hunting its
, Pandionidae.Taxonomy
The osprey was described by
- Pandion haliaetus haliaetus (Linnaeus, 1758) – the Eurasian osprey is the nominate subspecies that occurs across the Palearctic realm and several parts of sub-Saharan Africa from the Azores and the Iberian Peninsula east to Japan and Kamchatka Peninsula, throughout South and Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Madagascar and much of the African coastline.[7]
- P. haliaetus carolinensis (Gmelin, 1788)– the American or North American osprey occurs from Alaska and Canada to much of Central and South America, except Chile and Patagonia. It is larger, darker bodied and has a paler breast than the European osprey.[7]
- P. haliaetus ridgwayi Maynard, 1887 – Ridgway's osprey occurs in the Caribbean islands. It has a very pale head and breast and a weak eye mask.[7] It is non-migratory. Its scientific name commemorates Robert Ridgway.[8]
- Pandion cristatus, also known as the eastern osprey.[10]
Fossil record
Two
The oldest recognized family Pandionidae fossils were recovered from the Oligocene age
Etymology
The genus name
The origins of osprey are obscure;[17] the word itself was first recorded around 1460, derived via the Anglo-French ospriet and the Medieval Latin avis prede "bird of prey," from the Latin avis praedae though the Oxford English Dictionary notes a connection with the Latin ossifraga or "bone breaker" of Pliny the Elder.[18][19] However, this term referred to the bearded vulture.[20]
Description
The osprey differs in several respects from other
The upperparts are a deep, glossy brown, while the breast is white, sometimes streaked with brown, and the underparts are pure white. The head is white with a dark mask across the eyes, reaching to the sides of the neck.
The sexes appear fairly similar, but the adult male can be distinguished from the female by its slimmer body and narrower wings. The breast band of the male is also weaker than that of the female or is non-existent, and the underwing coverts of the male are more uniformly pale. It is straightforward to determine the sex in a breeding pair, but harder with individual birds.[26]
The juvenile osprey may be identified by buff fringes to the plumage of the upperparts, a buff tone to the underparts, and streaked feathers on the head. During spring, barring on the underwings and flight feathers is a better indicator of a young bird, due to wear on the upperparts.[24]
In flight, the osprey has arched wings and drooping "hands", giving it a gull-like appearance. The call is a series of sharp whistles, described as cheep, cheep, or yewk, yewk. If disturbed by activity near the nest, the call is a frenzied cheereek![27]
Distribution and habitat
The osprey is the second most widely distributed raptor species, after the
There is a 1,000 km (620 mi) gap, corresponding with the coast of the
Behaviour and ecology
Diet
The osprey is piscivorous, with fish making up 99% of its diet.[36] It typically takes live fish weighing 150–300 g (5.3–10.6 oz) and about 25–35 cm (9.8–13.8 in) in length, but virtually any type of fish from 50 g (1.8 oz) to 2 kg (4.4 lb) can be taken.[22] Even larger 2.8 kg (6.2 lb) northern pike (Esox lucius) has been taken in Russia.[37] The species rarely scavenges dead or dying fish.[38]
Ospreys have a vision that is well adapted to detecting underwater objects from the air. Prey is first sighted when the osprey is 10–40 m (33–131 ft) above the water, after which the bird hovers momentarily and then plunges feet first into the water.[39] They catch fish by diving into a body of water, oftentimes completely submerging their entire bodies. As an osprey dives it adjusts the angle of its flight to account for the distortion of the fish's image caused by refraction. Ospreys will typically eat on a nearby perch but have also been known to carry fish for longer distances.[40]
Occasionally, the osprey may prey on rodents, rabbits, hares, other mammals, snakes, turtles, frogs, birds, salamanders, conchs, and crustaceans.[38][41][42] Reports of ospreys feeding on carrion are rare. They have been observed eating dead white-tailed deer and Virginia opossums.[43]
Adaptations
The osprey has several adaptations that suit its piscivorous lifestyle. These include reversible outer toes,[44] sharp spicules on the underside of the toes,[44] closable nostrils to keep out water during dives, backward-facing scales on the talons which act as barbs to help hold its catch and dense plumage which is oily and prevents its feathers from getting waterlogged.[45]
Reproduction
The osprey breeds near freshwater lakes and rivers, and sometimes on coastal brackish waters. Rocky outcrops just offshore are used in
Generally, ospreys reach sexual maturity and begin breeding around the age of three to four, though in some regions with high osprey densities, such as Chesapeake Bay in the United States, they may not start breeding until five to seven years old, and there may be a shortage of suitable tall structures. If there are no nesting sites available, young ospreys may be forced to delay breeding. To ease this problem, posts are sometimes erected to provide more sites suitable for nest building.[48] The nesting platform design developed by the organization
Ospreys usually mate for life. Rarely, polyandry has been recorded.[51] The breeding season varies according to latitude: spring (September–October) in southern Australia, April to July in northern Australia, and winter (June–August) in southern Queensland.[46] In spring, the pair begins a five-month period of partnership to raise their young. The female lays two to four eggs within a month and relies on the size of the nest to conserve heat. The eggs are whitish with bold splotches of reddish-brown and are about 6.2 cm × 4.5 cm (2.4 in × 1.8 in) and weigh about 65 g (2.3 oz).[46] The eggs are incubated for about 35–43 days to hatching.[52]
The newly hatched chicks weigh only 50–60 g (1.8–2.1 oz), but fledge in 8–10 weeks. A study on Kangaroo Island, South Australia, had an average time between hatching and fledging of 69 days. The same study found an average of 0.66 young fledged per year per occupied territory, and 0.92 young fledged per year per active nest. Some 22% of surviving young either remained on the island or returned at maturity to join the breeding population.[51] When food is scarce, the first chicks to hatch are most likely to survive. The typical lifespan is 7–10 years, though rarely individuals can grow to as old as 20–25 years.[citation needed]
The oldest European wild osprey on record lived to be over thirty years of age.[citation needed]
Migration
European breeders winter in Africa.[53] American and Canadian breeders winter in South America, although some stay in the southernmost U.S. states such as Florida and California.[54] Some ospreys from Florida migrate to South America.[55] Australasian ospreys tend not to migrate.
Studies of Swedish ospreys showed that females tend to migrate to Africa earlier than males. More stopovers are made during their autumn migration. The variation of timing and duration in autumn was more variable than in spring. Although migrating predominantly during the day, they sometimes fly in the dark hours, particularly in crossings over water and cover on average 260–280 km (160–170 mi) per day with a maximum of 431 km (268 mi) per day.[56] European birds may also winter in South Asia, as indicated by an osprey tagged in Norway being monitored in western India.[57] In the Mediterranean, ospreys show partial migratory behaviour with some individuals remaining resident, whilst others undertake relatively short migration trips.[58]
Mortality
Swedish ospreys have a significantly higher mortality rate during migration seasons than during stationary periods, with more than half of the total annual mortality occurring during migration.
Conservation
The osprey has a large range, covering 9,670,000 km2 (3,730,000 sq mi) in just Africa and the Americas, and has a large global population estimated at 460,000 individuals. Although global population trends have not been quantified, the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e., declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations), and for these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern.[1] There is evidence for regional decline in South Australia where former territories at locations in the Spencer Gulf and along the lower Murray River have been vacant for decades.[32]
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the main threats to osprey populations were egg collectors and hunting of the adults along with other birds of prey,[61][62] but osprey populations declined drastically in many areas in the 1950s and 1960s; this appeared to be in part due to the toxic effects of insecticides such as DDT on reproduction.[63] The pesticide interfered with the bird's calcium metabolism which resulted in thin-shelled, easily broken or infertile eggs.[29] Possibly because of the banning of DDT in many countries in the early 1970s, together with reduced persecution, the osprey, as well as other affected bird of prey species, have made significant recoveries.[36] In South Australia, nesting sites on the Eyre Peninsula and Kangaroo Island are vulnerable to unmanaged coastal recreation and encroaching urban development.[32]
Cultural depictions
Literature
- The Roman writer Pliny the Elder reported that parent ospreys made their young fly up to the sun as a test, and dispatched any that failed.[64]
- Another odd legend regarding this fish-eating bird of prey, derived from the writings of Albertus Magnus and recorded in Holinshed's Chronicles, was that it had one webbed foot and one taloned foot.[62][65]
- The osprey is mentioned in the famous Chinese folk poem "guan guan ju jiu" (關關雎鳩); "ju jiu" 雎鳩 refers to the osprey, and "guan guan" (關關) to its voice. In the poem, the osprey is considered to be an icon of fidelity and harmony between wife and husband, due to its highly monogamous habits. Some commentators have claimed that "ju jiu" in the poem is not the osprey but the
- The Irish poet William Butler Yeats used a grey wandering osprey as a representation of sorrow in The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems (1889).[64]
- There was a medieval belief that fish were so mesmerised by the osprey that they turned belly-up in surrender,Coriolanus:
I think he'll be to Rome
As is the osprey to the fish, who takes it
By sovereignty of nature.
Iconography
- In heraldry, the osprey is typically depicted as a white eagle,[65] often maintaining a fish in its talons or beak, and termed a "sea-eagle". It is historically regarded as a symbol of vision and abundance; more recently it has become a symbol of positive responses to nature,[62] and has been featured on more than 50 international postage stamps.[68]
- In 1994, the osprey was declared the provincial bird of Nova Scotia, Canada.[69]
Sports
The Seahawk serves as the mascot at the south-eastern Massachusetts institute Bristol Community College, [70].
Other
So-called "osprey" plumes were an important item in the
During the 2017 regular session of the
References
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- ^ Salzman, Eric (1993). "Sibley's Classification of Birds". Birding. 58 (2): 91–98. Archived from the original on 13 April 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2007.
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- ^ Adrianova, Olga V. & Boris N. Kashevarov. "Some results of long-term raptor monitoring in the Kostomuksha Nature Reserve." Status of Raptor Populations in Eastern Fennoscandia. Kostomuksha (2005).
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- ^ Goenka, D.N. (1985). "The Osprey (Pandion haliaetus haliaetus) preying on a Gull". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 82 (1): 193–194.
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{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ^ "Osprey nest moved by BC Hydro crews weighs 300 pounds". CBC News - British Columbia, Canada. 28 November 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
- ^ "Osprey". Chesapeake Bay Program. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
- ^ "Osprey platform plans". Retrieved 23 November 2011.
- ^ "Project Osprey Watch". Osprey-watch.org. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
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- ^ "Migration Strategies and Wintering Areas of North American ospreys as Revealed by Satellite Telemetry" (PDF). Newsletter Winter 2000. Microwave Telemetry Inc. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 May 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2008.
- ^ Martell, M.S.; Mcmillian, M.A.; Solensky, M.J.; Mealey, B.K. (2004). "Partial migration and wintering use of Florida by ospreys" (PDF). Journal of Raptor Research. 38 (1): 55–61. mirror Archived 26 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
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{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "The Osprey". Province of Nova Scotia. Archived from the original on 23 May 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
- ^ "Bristol Community College". Bristol Community College. 26 February 2024. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
- ^ Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (1906). "Birds and Millinery". Bird Notes and News. Vol. 2, no. 3. pp. 29–30. Retrieved 18 September 2023 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Lawmakers adjourn 2017 session with mixed results for biggest priorities". OregonLive.com. 8 July 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
- ^ "SCR 18". state.or.us. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
Notes
External links
- The full text of The Fish Hawk, or Osprey by John James Audubon at Wikisource
- Explore Species: Osprey at eBird (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
- Osprey photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
- Pandion haliaetus species account at Neotropical Birds (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
- UK Osprey Information Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
- Osprey media from ARKive
- Osprey species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
- Osprey – Pandion haliaetus – USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
- Osprey Info Animal Diversity Web
- USDA Forest Service osprey data
- Osprey Nest Monitoring Program at OspreyWatch
- Ospreys Rebound, Rely On Help From Humans Archived 5 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine Documentary produced by Oregon Field Guide
- Hellgate Ospreys Bird Cam Montana Osprey Project, hosted by the Cornell Lab