OSPREY: A FISHING BIRDImagine that you are walking on the beach when you see

a shadow pass by and hear a series of sharp whistles, “chewk-chewk!” Curious you LOOK UP to see a bird that resembles agull. When you LOOK CLOSER, you realize the bird you seehas long and narrow wings that, in flight, bend to the shape ofthe letter "M.” All of a sudden, you see it plunge feet first intothe water to catch a fish swimming near the surface. The birdhas a firm grip on the slippery fish that squirms in its feet whichhave talons and rough sandpaper-like scales on the bottom.The bird swiftly flies away with its catch to a nest made of largesticks constructed on a tree. You go home to LOOK UP thebird you saw at the beach in a bird field guide and realize thatwhat you had seen was an osprey! —Yuko Ashida

Everything About theOsprey Is BIG!It is a large bird, growing about two feet in size

and boasting up to six-foot wingspans. Its nest is atremendous stick and driftwood creation sometimesconstructed atop a tree, but more often in New YorkCity balancing on an 18- to 20-foot-tall platform builtby kind humans sensitive to the lack of suitable nestinghabitat for the ospreys in the wetlands.

Ospreys also have a voracious appetite. They speed-dive into the water at 40 miles per hour, then plungein feet first with dagger-like talons (claws) ready tosnare an unsuspecting fish. In fact, ospreys are the onlybird of prey that dives under the water for food.

LOOK UP at the ospreys in flight and you will see nearly white bellies and white heads with the telltaleblack eye streak. These migrating birds call themselves New Yorkers from April through September, afterwhich time they fly south for the winter.

The best place to see ospreys (bring binoculars for a CLOSER LOOK) is along the West Pond Trail atthe Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. In 2006 ten nesting pairs called the Refuge their home.

—Sharon Seitz

LOOK UP Sharon Seitz’s family nature guide, Big Apple Safari for Families.

NewYork City Audubon 1

Young osprey on a platform in Jamaica BayWildlife Refuge.Photo © 2006 by Don Riepe

—Drawing byAdira Riben

New York City

look around

ACROSS2) After September, the ospreys in

Jamaica Bay ______south.3) Ospreys are called fish hawks because they

____ into the water to catch fish.5) Birds of prey are also called _______.7) Animals that are eaten by predators are called ____.8) Ospreys make this noise.9) These are chemicals that caused the decline in the

osprey population.10) This hawk is the only raptor that dives into the water to hunt.11) Ospreys are found in ______ areas.14) The osprey is also called a______.15) From April to September, ospreys can be

considered New ______, just like us!16) This is the osprey’s main diet.17) The ospreys in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge

have been ____ for 15 years in order totrack their migration.

For more information about the coastline and the ALS International Coastal Cleanup every September...

DOWN1) Animals that are active by day are called ____.4) Ospreys have __appetites.6) Hawks have ___on their feet to help grip their prey.7) Ospreys nest on ________.9) Animals that hunt and eat other animals are

called ___.12) Ospreys come to the New York coast from ____

to September to breed.13) The refuge on ______ Bay has about

10 pairs of nesting osprey.

OSPREY

Look Around NewYork City2

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OSSWORD

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ANSWERSon page 4

Mother osprey feedingher 39-day-old chick,who is almost as big asshe is!

By Yuko Ashida1

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—Drawings byAdira Riben

DON RIEPE, whohas been workingwith the JamaicaBayWildlife Refuge(JBWR) for 25years, specializes inosprey nesting. Mr.Riepe explainedthat nesting plat-forms (installed 15years ago) provideflat surfaces—difficult to find on trees—for the osprey to build theirnests. He estimated that over 90% of the osprey in theRefuge chose a platform to nest on rather than a “nat-ural” place!

However, ospreys do not always decide to buildnests on platforms. In 2006 one osprey nested on atelephone pole outside of the Refuge near the mainroad. Mr. Riepe hoped to have the nest moved to anearby platform, which he felt shouldn’t harm them.

Mr. Riepe explained that the JBWR monitors thehealth of the osprey by having NYC Department ofEnvironmental Protection biologist, Chris Nadareski,put harmless bands on the legs of the baby chicks. Thebands allow the JBWR to track the osprey on theirmigratory route to and from the Refuge, and to counthow many of the chicks return.

Mr. Riepe estimated that the number of ospreypairs in JBWR is growing by about one pair per

year. He thinks that theosprey population couldincrease to “about 15nesting pairs without thebirds getting territorial.”He expressed hope thatthe osprey population willcontinue to thrive in theyears to come.—Caroline Offit

NewYork City Audubon 3

OSPREY FACTSOspreys belong to a group of predatory (hunt otheranimals to eat) birds called “hawks” that are diurnal(active by day). All hawks are classified as birds ofprey, or raptors. Hawks are strong, powerful birdswith curved beaks, strong talons, excellent hearingand very keen eyesight. In the hawk family femalesare usually much larger than the males, but femaleospreys are only slightly larger. The osprey is com-monly called the “fish hawk” and they are found incoastal areas. Despite their name, ospreys eat otherfood besides fish. They are also known to eat smallbirds, turtles, and small mammals.

Ospreys mate for life, which means that pairs stay to-gether unless one of them dies. Once they find a mate,ospreys normally return to the same nest every year.

Unfortunately, in the mid 20th century ospreys de-clined in number due to the use of pesticides. Pes-ticides are chemicals used to kill insects and otherpests that eat crops and destroy grass. These chem-icals are poisonous and often pollute streams, lakes,and other bodies of water. The poisons get into fishand eventually affect the ospreys and other animalsthat feed on the fish. As a result of the decline inpopulations of many species, we now have a law toprotect them known as the United States Endan-gered Species Act. As a result ospreys have had a re-markable increase in their numbers since the1970s. —Sarah C. Haywood

. . .LOOK UP WWW.LITTORALSOCIETY.ORG or WWW.ALSNYC.ORG

Osprey and nest on telephone pole outside ofJBWR in 2006. Photo © 2006 by Don Riepe

A TALKWITH A JAMAICABAY GUARDIAN

Don Riepe is a tree hugger as well asJamaica Bay Guardian.

Photo courtesy of Don Riepe

Our Thanks To:Caroline Offit for being our 2006 Jun-ior Contributor.

Barbara Allen Loucks of NYS Depart-ment of Environmental Conservationand Chris Nadareski of NYC Depart-ment of Environmental Protection forreviewing this manuscript.

Con Edison and theNational Fish andWildlife Founda-tion/NYC RaptorFund for theirgenerous fundingof this publication.

Look Around NewYork City4

GO WITH AGROWN-UP

Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge isone part of the Gateway NationalRecreation Area. GNRA spreadsout over Queens, Brooklyn,Staten Island and New Jerseyand has swimming, walking andbicycle paths, and recreational,nature and cultural programs.

JBWR is world famous for itsbirding. It is on Crossbay Boule-vard between Howard Beachand Broad Channel (Queens).You can even get there on the Atrain or the Q21 or Q53 bus. Forinformation call the Refuge at718-318-4340.

For information on what youcan do in the rest of GNRA call718-354-4606orwww.nps.gov/gate.

THE HEALTH OF OUR COASTAL WATERSThe coast gives us both food and ways to enjoy ourselves.Healthy coastal waters give the country a healthy economy.It is important if you live near the seacoast or lake shore todo your best to protect it and to keep it clean.

Remind grownups who live near water that they should becareful what pesticides they use in their gardens and ontheir lawns.They should apply only pesticides that are cer-tified to be used near water.They should not use pesticidesor fertilizer within 50 feet of a body of water.They shouldnot use sprays on a windy day. Sarah C. Haywood

ANSWERS TO OSPREYCROSSWORD, PAGE 2DOWN 1) Diurnal 4) Vora-cious 6) Talons 7) Platforms9) Predators 12) April 13)Jamaica ACROSS 2) Migrate3) Dive 5) Raptors 7) Prey8) Chewk 9) Pesticides10) Osprey 11)Coastal 14)Fishhawk 15) Yorkers 16) Fish17) Banded

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Copyright © 2006NewYork City Audubon71West 23 StreetNewYork, NY 10010212-691-7483

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Yuko Ashida: Editor

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