For birders, one of the joys of April is the arrival of the Ospreys.\u00a0 We\u2019ll look at this remarkable raptor today and in the next post.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start with the scientific name of Osprey, Pandion haliaetus<\/i>.\u00a0 The genus name Pandion<\/i> comes from a king of Athens in Greek mythology.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the scientist, Savigny, who established the genus name did not know his mythology very well.\u00a0 Pandion had two daughters.\u00a0 A man named Tereus married one of the daughters and later forsook her for her sister.\u00a0 The Greek gods transformed the sisters into a nightingale and a swallow and Tereus into a hawk.\u00a0 Tereus spent eternity chasing the swallow and the nightingale.\u00a0 So, Tereus would be a much better genus name for the Osprey.<\/p>\n
But Pandion does have the prefix Pan- meaning all, an appropriate meaning here.\u00a0 Ospreys have a nearly worldwide distribution.\u00a0 They occur on all of the major continents with the exception of Antarctica as well as many oceanic islands, including such far-flung islands the Lesser Sunda Islands in the South Pacific.<\/p>\n
The specific name haliaetus<\/i> is the genus of the Bald Eagle, so there is a bit of similarity there.<\/p>\n
The common name turns out to be a misnomer as well.\u00a0 This word comes from Latin roots, meaning bone-breaker.\u00a0 This name is appropriate for the Lammergeier, an Old World vulture that drops bones onto rocks to crack them and expose the marrow.\u00a0 Oops!<\/p>\n
I think Fish Hawk would be a much more appropriate common name for the Osprey. Fish make up at least 99% of the diet.\u00a0 Other animals that are rarely taken are salamanders, birds, snakes, voles, squirrels and even a small alligator. Finally, it must be have been mind-boggling for observers to see an Osprey tearing flesh from the carcass of a White-tailed Deer and another competing with Turkey Vultures for access to a road-killed opossum.<\/p>\n
Access to fish is a strong determinant of the distribution of Ospreys.\u00a0 In North America, a look at the distribution map of breeding sites reveals they nest broadly in Florida but are restricted to the coastal plain along the rest of the east coast until they reach Maine.\u00a0 As you know, Ospreys nest commonly throughout most of our state.\u00a0 They also breed across Canada, extending south into many of the northern-most states with breeding populations extending along the Pacific coast to central California.<\/p>\n
Over much of their breeding range, winters are cold enough to cause lakes and rivers to freeze, denying Ospreys access to fish.\u00a0 Hence, the majority of Ospreys breeding in North America are migratory, spending the winter either along the coast or rivers in Central and South America.\u00a0 Unlike many migratory hawks, Ospreys readily migrate over broad expanses of water.<\/p>\n
We have all thrilled at the sight of an Osprey diving for fish.\u00a0 An Osprey may fly as high as 200 yards above the water to seek a fish near the surface.\u00a0 Sometimes they hover as they scope the scene.\u00a0 The dive is made feet first and is usually no deeper than three feet.<\/p>\n
The feet of an Osprey are marvelous tools.\u00a0 The talons are long and razor sharp.\u00a0 The base of the foot pad and toes are covered with short spines that aid in gripping a slippery fish.\u00a0 The outer toe is flexible and can reverse its orientation so that the foot of an osprey can have two toes pointing forward and two backward to grip a fish firmly.<\/p>\n
An Osprey can fly with a fish weighing half its body weight.\u00a0 Their long wings and powerful wing muscles allow them to generate enough lift to rise off the water with their load.\u00a0 Once aloft, the Osprey will orient the fish parallel to its own body to reduce air resistance.<\/p>\n
[Originally published on April 28, 2013]<\/p>\n\n
For birders, one of the joys of April is the arrival of the Ospreys.\u00a0 We\u2019ll look at this remarkable raptor today and in the next post. Let\u2019s start with the scientific name of Osprey, Pandion haliaetus.\u00a0 The genus name Pandion comes from a king of Athens in Greek mythology.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the scientist, Savigny, who established […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[420],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=581"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":582,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581\/revisions\/582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}