Imagine a seven-by-seven-foot home, crowded with two full-grown adults and three lanky teenagers who’re constantly squawking, demanding more food and threatening to fly the coop at any moment.
That was the scene on the edge of Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay where a family of Ospreys took up residence for the breeding season. Over the course of the summer, the pair’s clutch of two-inch-long, speckled brown eggs led to nearly full-grown fledglings, now the size of their parents, with wings spanning almost the length of their very crowded nest.
It made for a delightfully raucous display — and a closeup glimpse into this Osprey family. The fledglings were days away from taking flight when we met them on the edge of the bay near the home of some friends of ours. There was barely room for all five birds. Appetites were rising to the point that the dad was constantly circling nearby waters to dive for fish, which their mother would then tear apart and share with the brood.
These large and graceful birds are among the most rewarding species to watch. Their populations are booming along waterways through the Northern Hemisphere and so much of their daily lives play out where they’re easily seen. Add to that their spectacular fishing antics — diving feet-first from hundreds of feet aloft, and then struggling back into the air with their prey — and it’s easy to spend hours in spellbound awe simply watching them.
The chance to study the birds so close-up in noisy family togetherness is a treat unto itself. These chicks had been learning the ropes throughout the summer, and now model their parents’ every move: They’re flapping wings in preparation for flight, imitating the Osprey’s loud chirp, and constantly scanning the horizon in preparation of the day they’ll do the fishing.
It’s not easy to tell the parents from their offspring. The best clue is the color of their eyes: The grown Osprey’s eyes are yellow, while the fledglings are a deep bright orange, as you can see in this photo when they’re sitting side by side. The mother is slightly larger than the father, although you can only tell when they’re beside each other.
Here are some of the scenes from the nest and its surroundings:
The fishing was good the day we spent with these Ospreys. The adult male returned repeatedly with fish to share. With talons that lock into place to help grip a fish, and special claws like fish hooks that add to their success, an Osprey can scoop up fish nearly equal to their own weight of about four pounds. Almost as soon as they brought back fish, they were off again looking for more.
A week after our visit with the Ospreys, our friends told us that the fledgling themselves were taking flight and beginning the next chapter: Leaning to fend for themselves when it’s time to dive for fish, leaving on their first migrations and eventually building nests and creating families of their own. They aren’t likely to be far away from the nest were it all began; Osprey tend to return to their family territories and build their lives alongside the families they grew up with.
Notes: We’ve had a summer full of Ospreys, which seemed to pop up almost everywhere we went. Here’s a story on a North Carolina lake that’s become a mecca for Bald Eagles and Osprey. And here’s a favorite piece about the dramatic and nearly instant launch Ospreys can pull off, a story told with a series of photos. And here’s a gallery of all kinds of raptors, from Osprey to Eagles to a variety of hawks.
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