looduskalender.ee

 

 

The male must bring some 5 fish to the nest per day; its own weight stays at about 1 ½ kilos (about a quarter smaller than the female).

 

The most frequently caught fish weigh a couple of hundred grams (larger fish we see rarely as they must be flown to the nest or partly eaten where they were caught.

 

An osprey fishing in a water body is a sight in itself. Usually they dive from hovering flight, and all attacks are not successful. Sheltered in the reeds I have observed the doings of a male bird in a lake with relatively clear water for several years.

 

The legs of an osprey are well adapted to fishing, because all toes are equally long and as the only eagle they can rotate their outer toe so that a slippery fish stays securely in the grip of the talons.

 

The chick is mainly fed by the female