Poised for Flight
by Marty Fancy
Title
Poised for Flight
Artist
Marty Fancy
Medium
Photograph
Description
Also known as the fish hawk, ospreys are raptors that are well adapted for fishing. The birds have long legs and large feet with specialized barbs on the pads, hooked talons, and a reversible outer toe. This allows them to easily grasp fish with two toes pointing to the front and two pointing to the rear.
The Osprey readily builds its nest on manmade structures, such as telephone poles, channel markers, duck blinds, and nest platforms designed especially for it. Such platforms have become an important tool in reestablishing Ospreys in areas where they had disappeared. In some areas nests are placed almost exclusively on artificial structures.
Unique among North American raptors for its diet of live fish and ability to dive into water to catch them, Ospreys are common sights soaring over shorelines, patrolling waterways, and standing on their huge stick nests, white heads gleaming.
This bird was acting protective of its nest which probably had eggs. The nest was on a channel marker and the capture was from a passing boat.
Uploaded
February 21st, 2023
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