Ospreys are one of the most widespread birds of prey in the world and are found on every continent. In this video you'll discover lots of interesting information about them, what they eat, where they live, what their chicks look like and lots more.
#osprey #birdwatching #ukwildlife
Depending on where in the world you are, you might recognise this bird as a river hawk, a sea hawk or a fish hawk, but here in the UK we know them as ospreys.
Ospreys are quite a large bird, with a wingspan of 145 to 170 cm and weighing from 1.2 to 2 kilograms. Their wings, backs and on top of their tails are covered in dark brown feathers, whilst they have a white crown and dark brown eye stripe. Females are around 20% larger than males and they can also be separated by the colouring of the feathers down their throats and undersides. In males these are almost completely white whilst in females the feathers are heavily mottled with brown. As their alternative names suggest, an ospreys diet is almost completely made up of fish, which they catch by plummeting feet first into the water. To help them to keep hold of any prey they manage to catch, they can turn their 4th toe to point backwards, meaning they have 2 forwards and 2 rear facing claws. This allows them to hold and manoeuvre their catch, which will often be carried forwards facing and therefore more streamlined.
Naturally, Ospreys will nest on cliffs and in the high crowns of large trees, but in the UK they will frequently use man made nesting platforms. The same nest is used year after year and after a little maintenance when the birds return in the springtime, between 1 and 4 red speckled white eggs are laid. This is usually by the end of April with the eggs being laid between 1 and 3 days apart. They aren’t very large for such a big bird and measure just over 6cm long, which is about the same as a chickens egg. Sometimes the female will carry out all of the incubation, which lasts 37 days, whilst her mate brings her food in the nest, although some males will take over incubation for a short period each day to allow the female to leave. When the chicks hatch they are covered in striped cream and brown fluff with their dark eye strip already being visible. They hatch at the same rate as they are laid meaning their can be more than a week difference between the youngest and oldest chicks. When there is plenty of food, this is no problem, but if food is in short supply only the older chicks will get fed and the younger ones will not survive. As the chicks grow, the male brings most of their food to the nest, where the female tears it into smaller pieces and feeds it to them. After 7 to 8 weeks the chicks can fly and look very similar to their parents and will slowly begin to venture away from the nest. At this point, some adult females leave their nesting territory and start to make their migration journey south, but until all of the chicks are fully independent and start migrating themselves, the male will remain and continue to bring them food. Although pairs are usually monogamous for many years, they do not migrate to the same place for winter and will only rekindle their relationship when they return again in the spring.
Ospreys have a typical lifespan of around 9 years although the oldest known bird, is currently still alive and at least 30 years old.
Some of the footage and images used were obtained using creative commons licences, the originals and their licence details can be found at • Osprey
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