For my nephew,
Hi! My name is Oliver, and I’m an osprey.
I was hatched in a nest high above the Missouri River in Montana.
My favorite food is fresh, raw fish. My favorite thing to do is fly on a clear, bluesky day, and I love to snuggle up in my nest, cozy under my mom’s wings.
Osprey fact
All animals on earth are sorted into smaller and smaller categories. The scientific name for ospreys is Pandion haliaetus. Pandion was a mythical king of Athens and haliaetus comes from Greek and means “sea eagle.”
Kingdom: Animalia
Animalia simply means “the animals” and includes more than 9 million species, large and small.
Phylum: Chordata
All animals in the Chordata phylum have a cord of nerves that runs down their back.
Class: Aves
Aves are birds. Birds are warm blooded and lay eggs. They have backbones and feathers.
Order: Accipitriformes
This order includes birds of prey - about 250 species that have strong talons, curved beaks, and excellent eyesight.
Family: Pandionidea
The osprey is the only species in the Pandionidea family.
Genus: Pandion
The osprey is alone in the Pandion genus, which means there are no other species similar enough to share a genus with ospreys.
Osprey fact
When ospreys build a nest, the male osprey usually gathers sticks and other materials, and the female osprey arranges the materials into a nest.
Years ago, my mom and dad built our nest on a platform, made specially for birds like us, that was installed by humans.
Hundreds of years ago, my great, great, great, great, great, great grandparents used to build their nests in trees.
Each spring, when they returned to Montana, they found a perfect tree on which to build their nest. The tree had to be close to a river, so they could catch fish. The ideal tree had the top broken off, making a flat top, which gave the ospreys easy access to their nest.
Osprey fact
Ospreys mainly eat fish, and they’re very skilled at catching fish. They can dive as deep as 3 feet below the water’s surface to catch fish. An osprey needs to eat only one 10-inch fish per day. While ospreys mainly eat fish, they also eat small mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles.
Osprey fact
Osprey feet have a unique feature not found in many other birds of prey — they can move their outer toe either forward or backward. (Owls also have this ability.) As an osprey moves in to grab a fish, its four toes are arranged in a square formation. Spiky scales on the pads of the birds’ feet allow it grip slippery fish. Once the fish is caught, the osprey’s special toes allow them to arrange the fish so its head is pointed the same direction the bird is flying, cutting down on wind resistance.
Osprey fact
Ospreys mate for life, and return to the same nesting location every spring.
More than 100 years ago, humans started building power lines along the rivers and streams where my ancestors built their nests. These power lines brought electricity to cities, homes, and businesses across the country.
The power poles also looked a lot like flat-top trees, a perfect spot for mom and dad ospreys to build nests.
Osprey Timeline
13 million years ago:
Fossils show the first ospreys were alive 13 million years ago.
Many coastal Native American tribes see ospreys as guardians or warnings of approaching danger.
In the 1960s, ospreys nearly became extinct.
A chemical called DDT, used to keep insects from eating plants, nearly killed off many species of birds. The chemical made osprey eggs so thin that many eggs were crushed before chicks could hatch.
1805:
The “white-headed fishing hawk,” which was an osprey, was seen by Captain Lewis on August 9, 1805, near presentday Grayling, Montana.
1950s-1970s:
Osprey populations decreased dramatically, with ospreys disappearing almost entirely from some areas. This was due to DDT and other chemicals.
1972: DDT was banned in the United States, and osprey populations began to grow.
Today: Ospreys have grown in population and are found in more areas than they were historically.
Osprey fact
Female ospreys are larger than male ospreys. Females also have longer wings, tails, claws, and bills than males.
After DDT was banned, the osprey population grew and power poles were easy to find. Fifty years ago, my great, great, great grandparents almost always built their nest atop these structures.
However, nests, made of sticks, grass, and debris, aren’t a good mix with electricity. Sometimes our nests, built on power poles, caused the power to go out. Sometimes, our nests even caught on fire.
Osprey fact
Ospreys live all over the world, on every continent except Antarctica. Key
To give ospreys like me a safe place to live, NorthWestern Energy began installing nesting platforms near power poles. These platforms are an excellent flat spot to build a cozy, comfy nest.
Osprey fact
NorthWestern Energy has installed about 300 osprey nesting platforms in Montana. Ospreys aren’t bothered by building nests close to humans.
Osprey fact
Some ospreys continue to build nests on trees, rocky cliffs, and other natural sites, but many ospreys now nest on man-made structures, and not just nesting platforms. Ospreys build nests on cell phone towers, stadium lights, channel markers in harbors, and many other artificial structures.
Today, ospreys are a common sight along Montana’s rivers and streams. But we face a new threat – baling twine. This plastic string, which is used to make hay bales, looks like the perfect nest lining, but it can be deadly if osprey chicks or their parents get tangled in the twine.
Osprey Fact
How
Osprey?
Osprey
You can help me and my osprey friends by always picking up your baling twine, or any twine you see left out and about, and securing it in a container with a lid.
Osprey fact
Ospreys typically lay one to four eggs each year. Eggs vary in color from creamy white to pinkish cinnamon, and usually have reddish-brown spots. Osprey eggs hatch about 40 days after they are laid.
I was hatched from an egg atop a nest platform, kept warm by my parents. My dad taught me to fly from our nest and catch fish in the river.
Osprey fact
Both mom and dad ospreys incubate the eggs. The female osprey spends most of her time on the nest until the eggs hatch. The male osprey often leaves the nest to catch fish and bring them back to feed his mate. After the osprey chicks fledge, or are ready to fly, the mom heads south and the dad stays with the young ospreys and teaches them to fly and fish.
Osprey fact
Ospreys who nest in Montana and other western parts of the United States and Canada spend the winter in Texas, Mexico or Central America. Ospreys who nest in the eastern United States migrate to northern South America. Ospreys fly about 3,000 miles each spring and fall on their migration routes.
Now fall is in the air, and it’s time for my family to fly south, maybe to Mexico, Honduras, or Guatemala. But I’ll be back soon, ready to build a nest of my own.
Osprey fact
Ospreys reach maturity when they’re around three years old. They don’t fly north to nest until then, but when they do, they return to the area where they were hatched.
Ospreys often hold their wings in a distinctive "M" shape (while eagles make more of a "t" shape).
Female ospreys look like they're wearing a necklace of brown feathers. This is rarely seen on male ospreys.
Osprey Fact
Do you know how to identify an osprey? Keep an eye out for Oliver and his friends. Here's how to recognize an osprey.
Unlike a bald eagle, with an entirely white head, an osprey looks like it's wearing brown goggles.
The underside of an osprey's chest and upper tail is white. (A bald eagle's underside is black.)
Dark feathers above their eyes are believed to help reduce glare from water when fishing.
Adult ospreys have bright yellow eyes. Young ospreys' eyes are red or orange.
Ospreys have dark patches at their "wrists."
The tips of the wings look "fingered" when ospreys are in flight.
Look for ospreys and osprey nest platforms along rivers, lakes and other bodies of water.
Osprey typically return to Montana each year around April. By late June or early July, you may see young hatchlings in the nests. They stay through late August, when they migrate to their winter grounds.
Ospreys have a distinctive way of fishing. Before plunging, talons first, into the water, they will stop and hover above the water's surface, keeping their wings fluttering. This hover allows them to look for fish.
When perched, or sitting, ospreys appear to be hunched over. Their wing tips extend just beyond their tail.
References
Bierregaard, Richard O., Alan F. Poole, Mark S. Martell, Peter Pyle and Michael A. Patten.(2016).Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), The Birds of North America (P. G. Rodewald, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America. https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/osprey DOI: 10.2173/bna.683
Carpenteri, S. D. (1997). Osprey: The fish hawk. NorthWord Press, Inc.
Cornell Lab. (n.d.). Osprey. All about birds. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Osprey/#
National Wildlife Federation. (n.d.). Osprey. https://www.nwf.org/en/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Birds/ Osprey.
New Hampshire PBS. (n.d.). Osprey - Pandion haliaetus. Wildlife Journal Junior. https://nhpbs.org/wild/osprey. asp.
Three Blackfeet tipis (Circa 1900-1910). Montana History Portal, accessed 07/04/2024, https://www.mtmemory. org/nodes/view/13277
Wide angle view of a Blackfeet encampment (Circa 1900-1910). Montana History Portal, accessed 07/04/2024, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/13279
The Wild Report. (2020, December 5). The Osprey: Fishing falcon of the Americas! [Video]. YouTube. https:// youtu.be/J5O9l7aXI3Y?feature=shared
World Bird Sanctuary. (2014, January 9). Birdlore: Osprey the fish-hawk. https://world-bird-sanctuary.blogspot. com/2014/01/birdlore-osprey-fish-hawk.html.
Acknowledgments
A huge thank you to Dr. Marco Restani for first sparking my interest in ospreys by allowing me to tag along on osprey platform instations and osprey taggings, and for sharing so much knowledge about these amazing birds. Thank you for reviewing this book and making sure the "osprey facts" included were, in fact, factual.
Thank you to Lisa Richidt and Robin Shropshire who helped me brainstorm and craft a vision for this book over the course of many bike rides.
Thank you to Dr. Carolyn Cunningham for guiding me through my capstone project, keeping my project on track, and helping this book become a reality. Dr. Tracey Hayes, your course on data visualization inspired many of the graphics seen in this book.
Although, I've never met her, I want to thank Pirita Tolvanen for the work she did as a Fulbright Scholar studying data visualization in children's books. I learned so much from your work and got so many ideas for this book and future books.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed my book and provided feedback. Katie Guffin, your eye for detail is amazing! Cassie Scheidecker, thank you for sharing your graphic design expertise! Jeanne Bowman, you offered me so much encouragement, and helped me believe this book deserved to be more than just a grad school project. Thank you, Brandy Powers, for taking my grad school project and turning it into a published book.
Thank you to Kristen, Mallory, Tiffany, Emily, Diane, Neil, Mom, Dad, and Ryan for making the trip to celebrate Oliver's completion!
Finally, thank you to Ryan Murray and my whole family for giving me the time, space, and support to spend hours upon hours drawing ospreys.
About the Author
Erin Madison grew up in Colorado and studied journalism at the University of Montana. She holds a Master's Degree in Communication and Leadership from Gonzaga University. Erin is a lover of animals and spending time outdoors. She enjoys mountain biking, backpacking, and hiking with her partner Ryan and two dogs: Willow and Fern. She lives in Helena, Montana, and works for NorthWestern Energy.
