Osprey*ﾟ’ﾟ･✿

                   

         The Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), sometimes known as the sea hawk, fish eagle or fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching more than 60 cm (24 in) in length and 180 cm (71 in) across the wings. It is brown on the upperparts and predominantly greyish on the head and underparts, with a black eye patch and wings.

                   The Osprey 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.

                   As its other common name suggests, 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 recognised. Despite its propensity to nest near water, the Osprey is not a sea-eagle.

Classification

The Australasian subspecies is the most distinctive

The Osprey is unusual in that it is a single living species that occurs nearly worldwide. Even the few subspecies are not unequivocally separable. There are four generally recognised subspecies, although differences are small, and ITIS only lists the first two.
    P. h. haliaetus (Linnaeus, 1758), Eurasia.
    P. h. carolinensis (Gmelin, 1788), North America. This form is larger, darker bodied and has a paler breast than nominate haliaetus.
    P. h. ridgwayi (Maynard, 1887), Caribbean islands. This form has a very pale head and breast compared with nominate haliaetus, with only a weak eye mask.[8] It is non-migratory. Its scientific name commemorates American ornithologist Robert Ridgway.
    P. h. cristatus (Vieillot, 1816), coastline and some large rivers of Australia and Tasmania. The smallest subspecies, also non-migratory.

Fossil record
            To date there have been two extinct species named from the fossil record.[10] Pandion homalopteron was named by Stuart L. Warter in 1976 from fossils of Middle Miocene, Barstovian age, found in marine deposits in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. The second named species Pandion lovensis, was described in 1985 by Jonathan J. Becker from fossils found in the U.S state of Florida and dating to the latest Clarendonian and possibly representing a separate lineage from that of P. homalopteron and P. haliaetus. A number of claw fossils have been recovered from Pliocene and Pleistocene sediments in Florida and South Carolina, USA. The oldest recognized Pandionidae family fossils have been recovered from the Oligocene age Jebel Qatrani Formation, of Faiyum, Egypt. However they are not complete enough to assign to a specific genus. Another Pandionidae claw fossil was recovered from Early Oligocene deposits in the Mainz basin, Germany, and was described in 2006 by Gerald Mayr.

Diet
Eating a fish

          Fish make up 99% of the Osprey's diet.[31] It typically takes fish weighing 150–300 grams (5–10 oz) and about 25–35 centimetres (10–14 in) in length, but the weight can range from 50 to 2000 grams (2–68 oz). Virtually any type of fish in that size range are taken.

          Ospreys have vision that is well adapted to detecting underwater objects from the air. Prey is first sighted when the Osprey is 10–40 metres (32–130 ft) above the water, after which the bird hovers momentarily then plunges feet first into the water.

          The Osprey is particularly well adapted to this diet, with reversible outer toes, sharp spicules on the underside of the toes,closable nostrils to keep out water during dives, and backwards-facing scales on the talons which act as barbs to help hold its catch.

           Occasionally, the Osprey may prey on rodents, rabbits, hares, amphibians, other birds,and small reptiles.

Cultural depictions
          Nisos, a king of Megara in Greek mythology, became a sea eagle or Osprey, to attack his daughter after she fell in love with Minos, king of Crete.[48]

         The Roman writer Pliny the Elder reported that parent Ospreys made their young fly up to the sun as a test, and dispatch any that failed.

         Another odd legend regarding this fish-eating bird of prey, derived from the writings of Albertus Magnus and recorded in Holinshed's Chronicles, was that it had one webbed foot and one taloned foot.[46][50]

         There was a medieval belief that fish were so mesmerised by the Osprey that they turned belly-up in surrender,[46] and this is referenced by Shakespeare in Act 4 Scene 5 of Coriolanus:

I think he'll be to Rome As is the osprey to the fish, who takes it By sovereignty of nature.

        The Irish poet William Butler Yeats used a grey wandering Osprey as a representation of sorrow in The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems (1889).

        The Osprey is depicted as a white eagle in heraldry,and more recently has become a symbol of positive responses to nature,[46] and has been featured on more than 50 postage stamps used as a brand name for various products and sports teams. (Examples include the Ospreys, a Rugby Union team; the Missoula Osprey, a minor league baseball team; the Seattle Seahawks, an American football team; and the North Florida Ospreys) or as a mascot (examples include the Springs School Ospreys in Springs, New York; Geraldton skiing team in Australia; the University of North Florida; Salve Regina University; Wagner College; the University of North Carolina at Wilmington; Richard Stockton College; and Wells International School in Bangkok, Thailand.)