Birds of prey found in western Washington cities are Merlins, Red-tailed Hawks, Bald Eagles, Peregrine Falcons, Cooper's Hawks, Ospreys, Sharp-shinned Hawks, American Kestrels, and Owls.
This diary is about Ospreys. They are hawks and are, in fact, the real “seahawks.” They live near water and reside on every continent but Antarctica.
Adults are dark brown above with brownish-black marks on the wings and brown speckling on the breast. The head is white with a dark brown crown and brown streak down the cheek. The female is typically larger than the male.
At 18 months, osprey achieve their full adult plumage. Juvenile osprey resemble the adults, but have a speckled appearance to the upper back. They mature at 3 years and live for about 10 years.
The adult osprey smaller than the Bald Eagle but larger and longer-winged than a Red-tailed Hawk.
Look for Ospreys around nearly any body of water: saltmarshes, rivers, ponds, reservoirs, estuaries, and even coral reefs.
Their conspicuous stick nests are placed in the open on poles, channel markers, and dead trees, often over water.
Nests are large and untidy. Ospreys return to the same nest each season, and add to the nest before laying their eggs. The nests grow bigger and messier with time.
Their diet consists almost entirely of fish. Unlike other fish-hunting raptors, osprey will dive head and talons first into the water, sometimes completely submerging. Apparently, this is a successful technique. They probably stun their prey, making it easier to catch.
Humans think ospreys are good fishers. Other birds think so, too. They are frequent victims of muggings. Size matters. Ospreys have wing spans of about 4.5 to 6 feet.
They are targeted by bald eagles [wing span of 6 to 8 feet] in the northwest. Further south, frigate birds [wing span of 7 to 8 feet] harass ospreys in order to steal their food. Crows [wing span of around 3 feet] try to rob by mobbing the ospreys. Sometimes the cooperative behavior works. On the Atlantic shores, they also have to contend with Great black-backed gulls [about the same size as the osprey].
Osprey spend the warm months near lakes and rivers up north, and in the winter they find warmer waters in Mexico and even as far as South America. Each spring, osprey make the long flight back north to their previous year’s nesting site,
Upon their return, they have some housekeeping and courtship activities to attend to around their nest sites. Males will get busy finding sticks to refresh their nesting sites. As the male gathers stick of the correct size, it will slam them into other tree branches, causing the cascade of branches to fall The female takes on the task of arranging those branches. Nests will start about three feet in diameter, but over several years can reach ten feet wide.
Osprey typically lay 3 or 4 eggs in April or May. The female incubates them for about a month. During incubation, the male with defend the nest and do the hunting, brining food back to the nest for the female. They mate for life
Like eagles, osprey populations declined dramatically between the 1940s and 1970. This was caused by DDT-induced eggshell thinning. Since the ban of DDT 1972, the osprey population has made a comeback. In 1983, the osprey was down-graded to Threatened from its 1976 listing as Endangered, and in 1999, it was down-graded again to a Species of Special Concern.
As a result, we are graced with their presence today.
Go Seahawks! [both kinds]