Ospreys are a conservation success story and their populations are still
growing, but what has really grown this season is the population of their
fan base. First for some history - Osprey numbers crashed in the early
1950s to 1970s, when pesticides poisoned the birds and thinned their oval
shaped eggshells (commonly referred to as "footballs"). Sadly, another
growing cause of death for Ospreys has been entanglement at the nest,
likely due to conflicts in hunting strategies.

The Osprey is the only hawk on the continent that eats almost exclusively
live fish, until recently! This season, the Osprey has been observed eating
Panthers, Jaguars, Cardinals, Rams, Falcons, and while they have not
recently been seen eating fish, they have taken on fishermen, formerly
known as Vikings.

Ospreys are excellent anglers, angling for wins in every "hunt". Over
several studies, Ospreys caught prey on at least 1 in every 4 attempts,
with success rates sometimes as high as 70 percent, but this season, their
success rate has blown the fish out of the water - with a better than 90%
success rate. (Unheard of!)

An Osprey may log more than 160,000 migration miles during its
15-to-20-year lifetime. This season alone, they have already been seen
flying from Seattle to Florida, as well as to Texas, Indiana, Atlanta,
Georgia, Arizona, St. Louis, Missouri, and now New Jersey.

Ospreys are unusual among hawks in possessing a reversible outer toe that
allows them to better grasp oblong shaped objects. Barbed pads on the soles
of the birds' feet help them grip slippery surfaces, such as when it rains
in Seattle and the turf is wet.

All that said, what is there not to love about our Osprey, a.k.a. Seahawks?
GO SEAHAWKS!

Jennifer Jarstad
Seattle, WA
jennjarstad at gmail.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20140201/c8a28b04/attachment.htm