OSPREYS from Johns Hopkins University Press

OSPR E Y S t h e r e v i va l o f a g l o b a l r a p t o r

a l a n f. p o o l e

OSPR E Y S t h e r e v i va l o f a g l o b a l r a p t o r

OSPREYS The Revival of a Global Raptor ALAN F. POOLE Ospreys are one of the few bird species that are found throughout the world. From forests in Hokkaido to rivers in Oregon and islands off Australia, Ospreys steal the show as nature lovers easily watch them build

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their massive nests and tend to their young. The fact that the Osprey is one of the few large birds that can

TABLE OF CONTENTS

hover adds to its mystique, and to watch it plunge into

Preface

the water, emerging with a fish clutched in its talons,

1. Introduction: This Famed Bird

is truly a sight one will remember.

2. A Hawk That Fishes 3. The Geography of Ospreys 4. Finding Food 5. At the Nest 6. On the Wing: Incredible Journeys 7. Threats and Solutions

As widespread as Ospreys are, not long ago they were under threat of extinction. During the 1950s and ’60s, scientists tied the decline of Osprey populations to the heavy use of DDT and other human pollutants. In the 1980s, Ospreys began a slow recovery due to the

8. Looking Ahead

efforts of conservationists and through the resilience

Bibliography

of the adaptable raptors themselves. Today they are

Index

again considered common in most parts of the world, although some populations remain threatened.

In this gorgeously illustrated book, Alan F. Poole, one of America’s premier Osprey experts, has written a lyrical exposé of these majestic creatures, describing their daily habits and exploring their relationship with the environment. Ospreys celebrates the species’ miraculous recovery from contaminants and hunters, chronicles their spectacular long-distance migrations, and unveils their vital role in bringing life to coastal habitats. Few other birds have such a hold on the human imagination. This book shows us why.

A fascinating look at one of the greatest conservation success stories of the modern era: the wildly popular, unique, and thrilling raptor, the Osprey.

“In this gripping global survey, Alan Poole cel-

“Over my lifetime Ospreys went from vanished to

ebrates the return of one of everyone’s favorite

victorious because of a small number of people,

raptors. Authoritative, lyrically written, and

including Alan Poole, author of the book in your

splendidly illustrated, this book congratulates a

hands. Alan has lived, breathed, worked, and

deserving and wonderful bird that has made it

thought ‘Osprey’ like no other human ever has.

back from the brink. Ospreys is an inspired story

This wonderful book reflects deep knowledge

of a conservation triumph. We need more such

driven by even deeper passion. Every time I see

stories.”—Frank B. Gill, author of Ornithology

the Ospreys over my house, or gaze across the

“I’ve eagerly awaited Alan Poole’s new book on Ospreys and I’m not disappointed—this is a spectacular account of an iconic raptor known

water at Gardiner’s Island, I thank Alan Poole.”

—Carl Safina, New York Times bestselling author of Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel

and loved throughout the world. Poole chronicles its conservation and recovery with spell-binding text and beautiful photos. A must-have book.”

—Roy Dennis, author of A Life of Ospreys

Alan F. Poole, an associate at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is the former editor of the Birds of North America life history series. He has been studying New England Ospreys for over 35 years.

An adult male Osprey returns to his nest with a fish (Atlantic men haden, Brevoortia tyrannus—a key prey species for coastal Ospreys in the eastern United States). Connecticut, USA.

prominent stick nests, sometimes loud with the calls of fledging young; soaring individuals on warm, still afternoons, calling lazily to others below; the drama of a plunging Osprey, the large dark shape emerging from the water with a gleam of silver fish in its talons; and for those lucky enough to live along an Osprey migration route, a stream of the distinctive brown-and-white wings passing overhead on certain days in fall and spring, as the birds vacate one continent for another in their continual search for warmth and fish.

For all of these reasons the Osprey is as famed in our day as it was in Audubon’s. What we now know about this bird’s history makes it even more compelling. We celebrate its miraculous recovery from contaminants and guns, as well as its restoration to areas where less enlightened people drove it out. We appreciate its ability to serve as a barometer for levels of fish and poisons in our environment. And we stand in awe of its spectacular long-distance migrations, which Audubon knew little about. But in many ways it is the drama of its life, its central place in any habitat that supports it, that lets this great bird reach across time and distance to unite us in admiration. Few birds have had such a hold on the human imagination. This book is a quest to see why this is so.

8 O S P R E YS

two

A Hawk That Fishes

Eight chapters, 122 color photographs, and 20 maps bring the story of Ospreys vividly to life.

I

was a child of about 7 or 8 years old when I saw my first Osprey. I was on a family canoe trip through mountain lakes in the northeastern United States, and my introduction to the species was a dramatic one. I’d grown up in nearby farming country, a region devoid of Ospreys in those years, the late 1950s. But those wilderness lakes I was visiting still sheltered a few breeding pairs, and I was lucky enough to stumble across one of them.

It was shortly after dawn, a bright clear morning in June. My father and I had just launched our canoe and were headed across a lake to a trout stream on the other side. Still sleepy, entranced by a warm breeze and the rhythm of our paddling, I barely noticed a large dark bird flying slowly along the shoreline as we approached, hovering at treetop level and moving on, then hovering again, long legs dangling.

Suddenly the bird folded its wings and plunged, feet stretched forward and talons An Osprey with a fish in its sights.

Note the formidable talons spread wide for the strike, the long legs thrust forward to break the water ahead of the body and to reach deep, and the head lined up behind the talons to help guide an accurate strike.

Connecticut, USA.

9

Seven conservation Flavio Monti stories highlight the E VOLUTION OF OSPRE YS IN THE MEDITERR ANE AN AND B E YOND work of Osprey researchers Southern Euroaround pean Ospreys have found a voice in the world.

Flavio Monti, a young Italian researcher who has taken the lead in focusing attention on the small, threatened populations of Ospreys that breed on islands in the western Mediterranean Sea: Corsica, the Balearics, and islands off Morocco and Algeria.

Flavio grew up in northern Italy and describes his childhood there in charming and vivid terms: “I spent most of my life on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea: cradle of so many civilizations, the Mediterranean region is an interweaving of cultures, colors, and traditions that leave an impor tant mark on those who, like me, had the good fortune to sail its sea, know the voices of its ports, and smell the scents of its islands.”

Interested in birds since childhood, Flavio gravitated toward the threatened Ospreys of southern Eu rope in his university years. Like Odysseus reincarnated as a modern biologist, he decided to make the Mediterranean his focus, and his PhD thesis was a bold and ambitious one. Based at the universities of Montpellier in France and Ferrara in Italy, his research took a close look at the genetics, migration, foraging ecology, and conservation of Mediterranean Ospreys, collaborating with many different people and weaving together varied strands of study to show for the first time that these birds do migrate, some moving locally but some going as far as West Africa; that genet ically they are a cohesive group, despite hundreds of miles between subpopulations; and that new populations could be successfully reestablished in this region by moving fledglings from areas with robust breeding numbers to regions where the species had been extirpated. His efforts brought nesting Ospreys back to the shores of Italy for the first time in forty-five years—a small but growing population in Tuscany. And Flavio was ambitious enough to collect genetic material from nearly 225 Ospreys

(mostly museum specimens but also some live birds) from thirty-one countries across five continents, running DNA analyses that shed light on the evolution of the species from its earliest origins in North Amer ica. Above all he kept a focus on conservation issues, mapping out management plans for the most vulnerable populations in the Mediterranean.

While other researchers have also helped us understand the ecology of Mediterranean Ospreys and the problems they face, Flavio has been alone in his efforts to integrate work on several different populations and on various facets of the ecology and evolution of the species. It is encouraging to think that this integrative approach is the beginning of efforts to fully understand and stabilize this population, and to eventually restore it to historic numbers, numbers that Odysseus and Phoenician sailors would have seen as they crossed the “wine-dark sea.”

Global range of the Osprey, Pandion haliaetus, by subspecies.

America would have seen Ospreys almost identical to the ones they left behind in Norway. Likewise the ancestors of Australian aborigines floating in on rafts from Asia would almost certainly have recognized the Ospreys they saw nesting along coastlines there.

VARIATION: AGE, SEX, AND GEOGRAPHY

But subtle differences in the world’s Ospreys do exist, and based on those differences taxonomists have come to recognize four subspecies of Osprey. Before looking at how these subspecies differ, however, it helps to understand the complicating factors of age and sex because even within races Ospreys differ in small but noticeable ways, even though they might look the same to the casual observer.

Young Ospreys—juveniles recently fledged from nests—retain distinctive plumage for the first three to six months of their independent lives, plumage that helps us recognize them at a glance. Pale feather tips on the back and upper wings give these juveniles a slightly mottled appearance, making them easy to spot from a distance. In addition, a rusty yellow wash on the back of the neck and on white feathers of the under wing and sometimes the breast is often noticeable—a feature the adults lack—plus the eye (iris) is a darker orange-red (more red in American Ospreys, more orange in European) than the pale yellow of the adults.

Distinguishing male Ospreys from females can be a little more challenging than separating juveniles from adults. Overall, females are bigger and heavier than males, about 20%–30% greater in body mass and about 10%–15% longer in wing. While these differences do not translate into instant recognition, they do A H AW K T H AT F I S H E S 17

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Publication date: March, 2019 7 x 10, 220 pages 122 color photos, 20 maps 4 graphs 978-1-4214-2715-7 $39.95 / ÂŁ29.50 hc Also available as an e-book

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