Not long until first egg?

Screencap  Venegor, LK forum
Translation: Liis
Osprey female in front, in background Ilmar
 
Osprey    Kalakotkas       Pandion haliaetus
 
 We will take a look at ospreys, and the text is primarily meant for those who haven’t followed the webcams in previous years, or otherwise as refresher. "Tender exchanges" have been going on in the nest the whole day and a nest egg will not be far away then – let’s hope that our assumptions are true.
 
We have to do with the smallest eagles in our fauna. In 1985 there were only 5 breeding osprey pairs in Estonia – the ”raptor war” and environmental poisons had reduced the numbers to this. Whether we have 60 breeding pairs this year we will know when the Eagle Club men have added up the numbers in autumn.
 
Already the photo shows that the male is smaller than the female – as much as one-fourth less in weight. The weight of the sturdier female can be estimated at 2 kilos.
 
Outwardly the fligt image of an osprey can be mistaken for that of a large  juvenile gull (their plumage remains mottled until the third year), although the wingspan of the eagles is 1 ½ metres; in flight the underparts seem light.
 
The plumage is very similar for the sexes, the dark eye streak runs to the back. The head plumage is light and on the nape we see somewhat longer feathers, that are slightly fluffed up.The beak is black quite as the claws on the four similar toes. The  wing feathers are dark on top, flight feathers and tail feathers have dark streaks..


 

EST EN DE ES RU  FORUM

       

My Nature Calendar

Help to do Looduskalender.ee better - send Your observations about nature.

History