I periodically have watched Osprey cams and in a particular year – I think it was the Hellsgate nest in Montana. The chicks died because the male couldn’t fish the river right next to the nest. It was too high, dark brown, full of silt. The chicks died. Why wouldn’t an Osprey in this situation hunt for something else? I have seen references to the fact that Osprey will hunt other things besides fish – couldn’t cite where at this point.
I don’t know if there is anything similar in the literature for Ospreys, but having spent much of my career studying raptor foraging ecology, I have noted such surprises reasonably often.
In a long-term raptor study in Guatemala, for example, long-ago BSU grad student Megan Parker found one pair of Laughing Falcons, which are nearly absolute snake specialists, to take a few fish (they were nesting along a lake shore). I’ve always suspected that “fishy locomotion” appears somewhat similar to serpentine locomotion. This pair also took a huge beetle grub, arguably also somewhat snaky-looking.
In a more surprising case, a Black Hawk-eagle was witnessed eating raccoon feces. This species generally took mostly mammals including nearly half bats, which they brought to nests throughout the day-light hours. Both the diurnal bat-catching (clearly from their roosting sites) and feeding on stationary raccoon feces suggested to us they may have used olfactory cues in foraging.
Bottom line, even species that are generally dietary specialists tend to behave more opportunistically at times.
You might consider publishing this as a note in one of the bird journals, as it does seem likely this may be fairly uncommon. I wonder if the Osprey account in Bent’s life histories has anything similar?
I’ve seen Osprey take ground squirrels and voles in Yellowstone. I mentioned this to the fine leader (a retired NPS Yellowstone bird expert) of the course I was taking about 7-8 years ago and she said that at time it was just being realized that Osprey often ate more than just fish. Before that this behavior was scoffed at.
This past Saturday was Global Big Day. Here in Ada Co,. Gary Worthington and I were “birding buds” for the day. Our first stop, 0745, was at the Joplin Rd./Phyllis Slough ebird Hotspot to get the BBPL. It was raining pretty good at the time so we had to remain in Ag, my vehicle (see Periodic Table of Elements).
The pasture was being flood irrigated so there were likely fish in some of the pools, watched a GREG pull out a good-sized one couple days before and choke it down.
Anyway, while we were counting birds/numbers we saw an OSPR swing down and come in low from the back of the field and toward our vehicle. We weren’t sure what was going on, it did not dive for a fish, but, instead snagged a small bird from the ground, continued toward us before veering up, off and away from our stationary vehicle. Three BNST’s came up immediately and went hard after the OSPR but only for a few seconds before turning back. Our suspicion is the OSPR had grabbed a stilt chick as we could see two small bird legs dangling down limply under the OSPR.
O.K., my impression has always been that OSPR’s were strictly fish eaters (am I wrong here?) and did so using a feet-first “plunge-dive” method, like we’ve all seen either in person or on a nature documentary. But, this OSPR had snagged a small bird off the ground just like a BAEA would snag a fish off the water and did it in just as clean a trick as I have ever seen.
So, my question is: is there anything about this kind of feeding behavior anywhere in the literature or has anyone else even seen something like this before?
Ruth, You are surrounded by beauties of nature. I enjoyed reading your report of the birds in your Blackfoot yard. Thanks for sharing your sightings with us.
Thanks for this lovely glimpse into your birding world. I have a backyard here in Boise that has the same species barring the barn swallows and the great horned (although the latter has nested just three blocks from me). Life is good when you are surrounded by such beauty and wonder, no?
Here east of Blackfoot with a wooded/bush lined irrigation canal in my yard, I’ve had a mixed group of orioles, black-headed grosbeaks and Lazuli Buntings mobbing my feeders. I’ve had at least 8 male Lazulis at once using my window feeders. I can lay quietly on my couch and observe every detail. It’s fabulous! They will not share a feeder so the extras wait their turns in the adjacent branches of the nearby yew trees. The instant one Lazuli leaves a feeder a replacement moves in. It’s like planes at an airport waiting in a landing pattern. I’m waiting to see if the Lazulis move through or if they nest here. Also have barn swallows nesting once again in the same nest they attached to the cobble stone facing on my front porch. Unfortunately they prefer the nest directly above my front door. I keep wondering if it’s the same adults that returned or if they are 1 or 2 year-olds that fledged from that nest. Had a great horned owl and a Swainsons emerge from nests in our grove of spruce trees when I accidently surprised them yesterday. Never a dull moment around here.
For just a moment, I had a male Western Tanager and a male Bullock’s Oriole in the same shrub outside my dining room window. Not long enough for a photo.
Kit
Kit Struthers Idaho Falls, ID kit619@centurylink.net
Following a spring storm yesterday, lots of great species were out and about today in eastern Idaho. I had a male Tennessee Warbler and a Broad-winged Hawk on the east end of Mud Lake WMA in the narrow strip of riparian vegetation along the lake shore
(43.88794, -112.35584)
My photos and a complete checklist can be found here:
