Osprey carrying fish away from nest


Posted by 1943mike on Sat Aug 01, 2020 7:26 pm

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Olympus E-M1 Mk III, 40-150 f/2.8 @ 150mm, 1/5000 sec., f/4.5, ISO: 200.

Sometimes the Osprey will carry what the chicks are feeding on away from the nest. This usually occurs when there are other Ospreys or Bald Eagles flying around in the area. I suppose it's to protect the chicks from being hurt should an interloper attempt to grab a free meal while the chicks are busy eating. I'm not really sure.

I've observed this behavior before when a Bald Eagle was flying around but today I saw only other Ospreys. I may have just missed seeing an eagle or the other Ospreys which I did see flying around really do represent a threat.

In any case here's the parent carrying the half eaten fish back to the nest after the danger had passed.

And here's the larger version:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50178326716_4e0ea30a20_h.jpg

Mike

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by SantaFeJoe on Sun Aug 02, 2020 12:04 am
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I have seen that behavior as well. The adult flew off to a nearby power pole and ate some of the fish in peace without competing with hungry chicks and then flew back with some of it to the nest. Glad you’re getting some images with fish.

Joe
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by david fletcher on Sun Aug 02, 2020 10:23 am
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Good story Mike. Good sighting too
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by Karl Egressy on Sun Aug 02, 2020 4:58 pm
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Nice flight pose and eye contact.
 

by Ron Day on Sun Aug 02, 2020 5:07 pm
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Mike, excellent behavioral story and photograph.
 

by Jan Wegener on Mon Aug 03, 2020 9:44 am
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interesting story. Maybe they want to protect their prey?
 

by 1943mike on Tue Aug 04, 2020 11:33 am
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SantaFeJoe wrote:I have seen that behavior as well. The adult flew off to a nearby power pole and ate some of the fish in peace without competing with hungry chicks and then flew back with some of it to the nest. Glad you’re getting some images with fish.

Joe

Joe,

I've noticed that the parent(s) (whichever one has the fish) sometimes fly across the river (the nest is located within 50 feet of the Willamette River here in Salem, Oregon) to perch in a tree. I had assumed that behavior was simply to take a break from parenting :D but it could also have been to do what you said - eating in peace.

Mike
 

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