Bird name:

Osprey

Pandion haliaetus

Order

FALCONIFORMES

Family

Osprey (Pandionidae)

Code 4

OSPR

Code 6

PANHAL

ITIS

175590

Breeding Location:

Lakes, Seashore, rocky or sandy, Rivers

Breeding Type:

Monogamous

Breeding Population:

Common in coastal range, uncommon inland.

Egg Color:

Pink or white marked with brown and olive

Number of Eggs:

Incubation Days:

32 - 43

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

Sticks, sod, cow dung, seaweed, rubbish.

Migration:

Migratory

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General

Osprey: Large raptor with dark brown upperparts and contrasting white underparts with faint breast band. Small, white head has a dark crown and eyestripe. Bill is dark. Wings are held at a distinct angle in flight, with underwing showing barred flight feathers and diagnostic dark patches on forewing. Legs and feet are gray. Sexes are similar. Juvenile has scaled upperparts.

Range and Habitat

Osprey: Worldwide distribution except Antarctica; found near large bodies of water.

Breeding and Nesting

Osprey: Three pink or white eggs, marked with olive and brown, are laid in a bulky nest made of sticks built in a large tree; sometimes nests in loose colonies. Incubation ranges from 35 to 40 days and is carried out by both parents.

Foraging and Feeding

Osprey: Feeds exclusively on fish, usually twice daily, in mid-morning and late afternoon. Forages by flying over water, hovering once prey is spotted, then diving into the water feet-first to grasp prey; sometimes lays on the water and rests, but eventually takes off to find a perch to eat its meal.

Vocalization

Osprey: Utters a short, tuneful whistle. Also makes alarm calls, begging calls, etc., in a voice that is, for the size of bird, most unimpressive.

Similar Species

Osprey: Bald Eagle is larger with an entirely white head and tail, and dark underparts and underwings.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

Crown

The crown is the top part of the birds head.

Flight feathers

Located on the wing, and collectively called remiges (singular, remex). The long stiff feathers are subdivided into two major groups based on the location and are called primaries and secondaries.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America