OSPREYS Essays - Birds Of Prey, Accipitriformes, Osprey, Biota

OSPREYS My report is about the osprey. The osprey is a carnivore , it eats mostly fish. Ospreys have another name, fish hawk. It has that name because ninety per cent of their diet is fish. They have long, curved talons and scaly feet to help grip the fish. They have been seen swimming low over water after eating, perhaps to clean their talons after eating. Ospreys live in four continents, North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Ospreys begin nesting in early springtime. Their nests can weigh up to half a ton! When the babies are growing, the dad has to work very hard. He has to spend one fourth of the day getting food for babies. To be able to do that he has to eat twice as much as usual. When the male bird brings a fish, the female pecks at it and rips it apart so the babies can eat it. When the babies are a month old they are already 70 to 80% of their adult weight. The osprey doesn't have very many enemies because not very many birds or animals can beat the osprey in a fight. Eggs are sometimes eaten by hawks, eagles, or owls, but flying predators are not a big threat to the osprey. In North America, the greatest enemy of the osprey is the raccoon. The raccoon is very smart so it can get to the eggs and steal them. To help save the eggs people are now putting steal platforms on the tree or pole to trick the raccoons. If the osprey builds its nest on a tree that is sticking out of the water, it won't be as easy for the raccoon to get to the nest. The osprey is a unique bird. It is related to the hawk and eagle, but scientists put it in it's own special group. The underside of an osprey is white, while the feathers on the back are very dark brown. There heads are white, with black marks across the cheeks and on the crown.