Ospreys

A tasty inflight meal! An Osprey snags some fast food from Oyster Pond in Falmouth. Springtime means ospreys have returned in full force to their nests all over Cape Cod.  Massachusetts Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay is now tracking more than 200 active nests of breeding pairs of osprey all over the Cape. The fish-eating birds of prey are best known for their spectacular hunting style: They dive headfirst into lakes, rivers, and bays after hovering above the water’s surface to target their prey, which they then take to a nearby nest or perch to eat.

What makes the ospreys unique compared with other birds of prey is their amazing dexterity and cleverness when it comes to their feeding strategy. With its streamlined feathered frame it hovers over the water from an amazing altitude of 50 to 200 feet, and then dives to catch its prey. A reversible front toe and barbs, called spicules, on the bottom of its feet make it easy for the osprey to hold onto a slippery meal. It positions the fish, pointing headfirst, in its talons in order to remain aerodynamic while flying back to the nest. With a diet consisting mostly of live fish, these avian acrobats are indicators of good water quality and minimal pollution in lakes, tidal streams, and oceans.  For more information please click here to go to a Mass Audubon site that provides more details on the Cape Cod Osprey Project details, or feel free to contact Mark Faherty at 508-349-2615 or Ian Ives at 508-362-7475.

For those with an interest, don’t miss the free lecture, "The Lives of Ospreys—A Satellite's View," cosponsored by Mass Audubon's Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary and the Westport River Watershed Alliance, will be offered at the Westport Public Library tonight Thursday, May 6, at 7 pm. Presenter Rob Bierregaard, a research biologist at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, has studied osprey migration since 2000 and deployed over 30 transmitters on birds in southeastern Massachusetts. He will share findings from his research using satellite telemetry that reveals the route of ospreys' annual round-trip migration between their breeding territories in this region and their wintering grounds in South America.

Enjoy!

Craig Gibson
Woods Hole