Western Osprey

Western Osprey Pandion haliaetus was hunting at some distance along the edge of the lake at the wetlands site. The tour party was gathering to leave the site and as I had never photographed this species despite having seen it on most continents, this was an opportunity too good to miss so I took a few photos quickly of the bird in flight.

Osprey, which has an estimated population of up to half a million birds, is found across the world and until recently was classified as circumpolar i.e. a single species throughout its world range. It tolerates a wide variety of habitats, nesting in any location near a body of water providing an adequate food supply. It is found on all continents except Antarctica, although in South America it occurs only as a non-breeding migrant.

It is also known as Fish Eagle, Sea Hawk, River Hawk, and Fish Hawk and as these names suggest, the Osprey’s diet consists almost exclusively of fish. It possesses specialised physical characteristics and exhibits unique behaviour to assist in hunting and catching prey. As a result of these unique characteristics, it has been given its own taxonomic genus, Pandion and family, Pandionidae. Four subspecies are usually recognized, one of which has recently been given full species status (see below). Despite its propensity to nest near water, the Osprey is not classed as a sea eagle.

Recent research has led to a split into two species by some taxonomic authorities, Western Osprey which is found in most continents and Eastern Osprey Pandion cristatus which has a breeding range of Sulawesi, Java, New Guinea, Australia and New Caledonia.

Reference: Wikipedia