With 6' wing span, the Osprey is quite a substantial bird

By Al Lowe
Contributor

The Osprey is one of our largest hawk-like birds. Sometimes it is called the Fish Eagle. And you have to admit that, with a six foot wing span, it is quite a substantial bird.
It lives on fish and is very well adapted to its role in life. Those huge wings give it great lifting power, and its powerful claws have sharp, horny spines on the bottoms so it can hang onto any slippery fish.
Its method of fishing is different from that of any other bird. It usually flies slowly at about 50 feet or so above the water. When it spots a fish at or near the surface, the wings fold up, the talons are pushed fully down with claws extended, and the bird comes down in a powerful dive. The Osprey may go under the water a couple of feet or so, but when its comes up, it almost always has that fish. Again, those big wings come in handy to lift bird and fish out of the water.
The Osprey is a worldwide resident, breeding in almost all of the temperate areas of the earth. In North America, there are about half a dozen ‘significant’ areas for breeding. Northern Ontario is one of these. We have lots of Ospreys.
An Osprey nest is not a thing of beauty. It is usually at the very top of a dead tree, and is mostly made out of twigs, and small branches. It has been known, however, to include rope, fishing line, and even rubber boots. The Osprey pair will add to it year after year until it weighs hundreds of pounds. They aren’t too fussy, either. In built up areas they will use telephone poles, radio towers and chimneys.
During the 1960’s, a tremendous decline in the Osprey population (most particularly in the eastern states) alerted scientists to the dangers of the widespread use of the pesticide DDT. When DDT finally got into the tissues of the Osprey, it affected the ability to reproduce. Hence a crash in the Osprey population. Now that DDT has effectively been banned in North America, that population has increased dramatically.
Well, the Osprey is a bird which lives on fish. So is he taking fish which you might want for yourself? Many studies have been done on this very topic, and the answer is a very clear ‘no’. Almost all of the Osprey’s food consists of coarse or relatively unimportant fish - sunfish, suckers, perch and the like, many of which spend a lot of time near the surface. Most of the gamefish species don’t spend that much time close to the surface anyway, so they are not likely to come to the Osprey’s attention.
So, in the summer, when you see that great brown and white hawk above you, take note of him. The Osprey (Pandion heliaetus) is one of the very fascinating sights here on our northern lakes. The fish which he catches are not reducing your chances at all. He may be a much better fisherman than you are, and certainly an awful lot better than me.