Osprey pair accepts artificial home, perched 25 metres in the air

June 1, 2023 10:19 PM

Osprey pair accepts artificial home, perched 25 metres (82 feet) in the air. A treetop mission has seen the years-long nesting site of a pair of eastern ospreys rebuilt on the Sunshine Coast after it was badly damaged during storm.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries (5 comments total)

The recovery of osprey populations on Long Island (NY) has been helped by the deployment of these types of platforms, though more in the 10m height class.

They are amazing birds. I love to watch them fish. My very favorite thing is how when they catch a big fish they fly with it gripped so the fish is facing forward (so it’s aerodynamic). Also when the fledglings are just about to start flying they will jump up out of the nest when there’s a breeze and “soar” like a foot above the nest for a couple of seconds before folding their wings and falling back into the nest. Like “Oh shit, I was almost flying there! Not ready for that yet!”
posted by bgribble at 3:51 AM on June 2, 2023 [6 favorites]

This is the type of news I need in my feed every day! Thanks for posting.
posted by lemonade at 4:28 AM on June 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Lovely story and great pictures! When I was a kid in the 1980s, ospreys were incredibly rare in the US, and I remember the occasional sightings were really exciting. It's amazing that over my lifetime they have just completely rebounded thanks primarily to the banning of DDT. Also a cool note that ospreys are found on all continents but Antarctica, and most ornithologists consider all ospreys on all continents to be a single species, making them one of the most cosmopolitan land bird species.
posted by hydropsyche at 6:06 AM on June 2, 2023 [2 favorites]

Ospreys in Central Florida don't seem to be as picky. There are nests on top of billboards, freeway signs, on top of under construction roller coasters.
posted by Badgermann at 7:44 AM on June 2, 2023

Love these goofs.
posted by grobstein at 10:52 AM on June 2, 2023