Osprey Nest Building
by Robert Bales
Title
Osprey Nest Building
Artist
Robert Bales
Medium
Photograph - Photo
Description
A beautiful Osprey carrying a branch to it nest.
The Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), sometimes known as the sea hawk, fish eagle or fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching more than 60 cm (24 in) in length and 180 cm (71 in) across the wings. It is brown on the upperparts and predominantly greyish on the head and underparts, with a black eye patch and wings.
The Osprey tolerates a wide variety of habitats, nesting in any location near a body of water providing an adequate food supply. It is found on all continents except Antarctica although in South America it occurs only as a non-breeding migrant.
As its other common name suggests, the Osprey's diet consists almost exclusively of fish. It possesses specialised physical characteristics and exhibits unique behaviour to assist in hunting and catching prey. As a result of these unique characteristics, it has been given its own taxonomic genus, Pandion and family, Pandionidae. Four subspecies are usually recognized, one of which has recently been given full species status (see below). Despite its propensity to nest near water, the Osprey is not classed as a sea-eagle.
Uploaded
April 25th, 2013
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Comments (5)
Al Powell Photography USA
This image would fit well in the 'Water Bird Photography' group.
Robert Bales replied:
Thanks for thinking about a different group for this capture. I well look it up and put it in it.