osprey or more specifically west osprey ( Pandion haliaetus ) - also called sea hawk /b>, and fish hawk - are diurnal fish eater birds with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching over 60 cm (24 inches) and 180 cm (71 inches) in the wings. The color is brown on the top and is dominated by gray on the head and bottom.
Osprey birds tolerate a wide variety of habitats, nesting at any location near the water bodies providing an adequate supply of food. It is found on all continents except Antarctica, although in South America it only occurs as a non-breeding migrant.
As other common names show, osprey food is almost entirely made up of fish. It has special physical characteristics and exhibits unique behavior to aid in hunting and catching prey. As a result of this unique characteristic, it has been given its own taxonomic genus, Pandion and family, Pandionidae. Three subspecies are usually recognized; one of the former subspecies, cristatus , was recently given a full species status and is referred to as the eastern osprey. Despite its tendency to nest near water, the osprey is not classified as a sea eagle.
Video Osprey
Taxonomy and systematics
The osprey is one of the many species described by Carl Linnaeus in the work of the 18th century, Systema Naturae , and is named as Falco haliaeetus . The genus, Pandion , is the only member of the Pandionidae family, and usually contains only one species, osprey ( P. haliaetus ). The genus Pandion is described by the French zoologist Marie Jules CÃÆ' Â © sar Savigny in 1809.
Most taxonomic authorities consider cosmopolitan species and the like. Some authorities divide the osprey into two species, western osprey and east osprey .
Osprey birds differ in some ways from other diurnal birds of prey. His fingers are of the same length, the reticulate tars are, and the paws are round, not grooved. Osprey and owls are the only rap bird whose outer legs can be reversed, allowing them to capture their prey with two toes in front and two behind. This is very helpful when they catch a slippery fish. It always presents something of a puzzle to the taxonomist, but here he is treated as the only member of the surviving Pandionidae family, and the family is enrolled in his traditional place as part of the Falconiformes order.
Another scheme places it next to eagles and eagles in the family Accipitridae - which can be regarded as the largest part of the Accipitriformes order or incorporated with Falconidae into the Falconiformes. The Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy has placed it along with other diurnal raptors in enormous Ciconiiformes, but this results in an unnatural paraphyletic classification.
Classification
Osprey is unusual because it is a single living species that occurs almost all over the world. Even some subspecies can not be separated. There are four commonly recognized subspecies, although the differences are small, and the ITIS only lists the first two.
- P. h. haliaetus - (Linnaeus, 1758) : Palearctic.
- P. h. carolinensis - (Gmelin, 1788) : North America. This form is larger, darker and has a paler breasts than nominate haliaetus .
- P. h. ridgwayi - Maynard, 1887 : Caribbean islands. This form has a very pale head and breast compared to the nomination of haliaetus , only with a weak eye mask. It's not migrating. His scientific name commemorates American ornithologist Robert Ridgway.
- P. (h.) cristatus - (Vieillot, 1816) : coastlines and some major rivers in Australia and Tasmania. The smallest and most distinctive subspecies, also do not migrate. Some authorities have given full species status as east osprey.
Fossil record
Until now there are two extinct species that come from the fossil record. Pandion homalopteron was named by Stuart L. Warter in 1976 from Middle Miocene fossils, Barstovia's age, found in marine sediments in southern California. The second species named Pandion lovensis , was described in 1985 by Jonathan J. Becker of the fossils found in Florida and dating to the latest Clarendonian and possibly representing a separate lineage of P. homalopterone > and P. haliaetus . A number of fossilized claws have been found from the Pliocene and Pleistocene deposits in Florida and South Carolina.
The oldest family Pandionidae family fossils have been found from Jebel Qatrani Formation, Faiyum, Egypt, Oligocene age. However they are not complete enough to be assigned to a particular genus. Other Pandionidae claw fossils were discovered from early Oligocene deposits in Mainz basin, Germany, and described in 2006 by Gerald Mayr.
Etymology
The genus name Pandion comes from the Greek king of Athens myth and grandfather of Theseus, Pandion II. Although Pandion II is not used for the name of the bird of prey, Nisus, king of Megara, is used for the genus. The species name of haliaetus is from Ancient Greek haliaietos ???????? from hali - ??? - , "sea-" and aetos ????? , "hawk".
The origins of osprey are not clear; the word itself was first recorded around 1460, derived from the Anglo-French ospriet and the Medieval Latin avis prede "birds of prey," from the Latin avis praedÃÆ' Â| even though the Oxford English Dictionary records a connection with Latin ossifraga or "bone breaker" from Pliny the Elder. However, this term refers to Lammergeier.
Maps Osprey
Description
Osprey is 0.9-2.1 kg (2.0-4.6 pounds) in weight and 50-66 cm (20-26 inches) long with wings of 127-180 cm (50-71 inches). Therefore, the size is almost the same as the largest member of the Buteo or Falco genera. Subspecies are fairly close in size, with subspecies nominating an average of 1.53 kg (3.4 pounds), P. h. carolinensis averaged 1.7 kg (3.7 lb) and P. h. cristatus averages 1.25 kg (2.8 pounds). The wing chord measures 38 to 52 cm (15 to 20 inches), the tail is 16.5 to 24 cm (6.5 to 9.4 inches) and the tarsus is 5.2-6.6 cm (2.0-2, 6 inches).
The upper part is dark brown, while the chest is white and sometimes striped brown, and the bottom is a clean white. His head is white with a dark mask along the eyes, down to the side of the neck. Iris eyes are golden golden, and the transparent nictitating membrane is pale blue. The bill is black, with cere blue, and the legs are white with black claws. A short and long tail, a narrow wing with four long feathers, like a finger, and a shorter fifth, gives a very distinctive appearance.
Genders look quite similar, but adult males can be distinguished from females with slim bodies and narrow wings. Male breast ribbons are also weaker than females, or none, and the male's lower cover is more pale uniform. It is easy to determine the sex in breeding pairs, but harder with individual birds.
The teenage osprey can be identified by buff fringes to the upper feathers, buff tones to the bottom, and feathers darting across the head. During the spring, restrictions on the lower and flying feathers are a better indicator of young birds, due to wear on the top.
In flight, osprey has curved wings and sags "hands", giving it a gull-like appearance. The call is a series of sharp whistles, described as cheep, cheep or yewk, yewk . If disturbed by the activity near the nest, the call is a cheereek frenzy !
Ospreyà ¢ call
Distribution and habitat
The osprey is the second most distributed raptor species, after peregrine hawks. It has a worldwide distribution and is found in tropical climates and of all continents except Antarctica. In North America breeds from Alaska and Newfoundland to the south to the Gulf Coast and Florida, winters further south from the southern United States to Argentina. It is found in summers throughout northern Europe to Ireland, Scandinavia, Finland and Scotland, England, and Wales though not Iceland, and winter in North Africa. In Australia, this place is largely inactive and not visible around the shoreline, although it is a non-breeding visitor in eastern Victoria and Tasmania.
There are 1,000 km (620 mi) gaps, corresponding to the Nullarbor Plains beach, between the westernmost nursery site in South Australia and the western breeding place in Western Australia. On the Pacific islands are found in the Bismarck Islands, Solomon Islands and New Caledonia, and the remains of adult and adolescent fossils have been found in Tonga, where it may be destroyed by the arriving humans. There is a possibility it may ever revolve around Vanuatu and Fiji as well. It is unusual for winter visitors to be quite common in all parts of South Asia, and Southeast Asia from Myanmar to Indochina and southern China, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Behavior and ecology
Diet
The fish form 99% of the osprey diet. It usually consumes 150-300 g of fish (5.3-10.6 oz) and about 25-35 cm (9.8-13.8 inches), but the weight can range from 50 g (1.8 oz) to 2 kg (4.4 Ã, lb). Almost all types of fish in the range are taken.
Osprey has a well-adjusted vision for detecting undersea objects from the air. Prey is first seen when the osprey is 10-40 m (33-131 ft) above the water, after which the bird hovers for a moment then plunges the first leg into the water.
Sometimes, osprey can prey on rodents, rabbits, rabbits, amphibians, other birds, and small reptiles.
Adaptation
The osprey has some adaptations that match the dazzling lifestyle:
- reversible outer toes
- sharp spikula under the toes
- nostrils closed to hold water during dives
- the back-facing scales on the claws that act as thorns to hold their catch.
- oily, oily feathers and prevent their feathers from getting soaked.
Reproduction
Osprey birds breed near freshwater and river lakes, and occasionally in coastal coastal waters. The only offshore rocky outcrop is used on Rottnest Island off the coast of Western Australia, where there are 14 or more similar nesting places that are five to seven used in a year. Many are renovated every season, and some have been used for 70 years. The nest is a large pile of sticks, driftwood, grass or seaweed built in tree forks, rock outcrops, power poles, artificial platforms or offshore islands. 2 meters wide and weighing about 135 kg, a large nest in an electric pole could be a fire hazard and cause a power outage.
Generally, osprey reach sexual maturity and start breeding around the age of three to four years, although in some areas with high osprey density, such as Chesapeake Bay in the US, they may not start breeding for up to five to seven years, and there may be a high structural deficiency that suitable. If no nesting sites are available, a young osprey may be forced to postpone the nursery. To ease this problem, posts are sometimes established to provide more suitable sites for building hives. In some areas, ospreys prefer transmission towers as nesting sites, for example in East Germany.
Design platform developed by one organization, Citizens United to Protect the River Maurice and Its Kids, Inc. has become the official design of the State of New Jersey, USA. Platform plans and material lists, available online, have been used by people from a number of different geographic areas. Osprey-watch.org is a global site to map the location of bird's nests and logging observations on reproductive success.
Osprey usually mate for life. Rarely, polyandry has been noted. The breeding season varies according to latitude; spring (September-October) in southern Australia, April to July in northern Australia and winter (June-August) in southern Queensland. In the spring, couples begin a five-month partnership period to raise their children. The female spawns two to four eggs within a month, and depends on the size of the nest to save heat. The egg is whitish with thick reddish-brown spots and about 6.2 cm - 4.5 cm (2.4 inches 1.8 inches) and weighs about 65 g (2.3 oz). Eggs are incubated for about 35-43 days to hatch.
Newly hatched chicks weigh only 50-60 g (1.8-2.1 oz), but within 8-10 weeks. A study on Kangaroo Island, South Australia, had an average time between hatching and fledging of 69 days. The same study found an average of 0.66 youth per year per occupied territory, and 0.92 youth per year per active nest. Approximately 22% of surviving children either stay on the island or return at maturity to join breeding populations. When food is scarce, the first chicks that hatch are likely to survive. Typical age is 7-10 years, although rare individuals can grow as old as 20-25 years.
The oldest wild osprey in Europe is recorded to live more than thirty years. In North America, large horned owls (Bubo virginianus ), golden eagles ( Aquila chrysaetos ), and bald eagle ( Haliaeetus leucocephalus ) are one the only major predator of ospreys, capable of taking both nests and adults. However, kleptoparasitism by bald eagles, where larger raptors steal osprey catches, is more common than predation. The white tailed eagle ( Haliaeetus albicilla ), which is very similar to a bald eagle, may be harassing or preying on osprey in Eurasia. Raccoon ( Lotor Procyon ) can pose a serious threat to nests or eggs if they can access the nest. Endoparasitic trematodes ( Scaphanocephalus expansus and Neodiplostomum spp.) Have been recorded in wild ospreys.
Migration
European winter breeders in Africa. American and Canadian winter breeders in South America, although some live in the southernmost US states such as Florida and California. Some ospreys from Florida migrate to South America. Australasian ospreys tend not to migrate.
Swedish ospreys studies show that women tend to migrate to Africa earlier than men. More transit is made during their autumn migration. Variations in time and duration in autumn are more varied than spring. Although migrating mainly during the day, they occasionally fly in dark hours especially in water crossings and cover an average of 260-280 km (160-170 mi) per day with a maximum of 431 km (268 mi) per day. European birds may also winter in South Asia, osprey that ring in Norway has been found in western India.
Status and preservation
The osprey has a large reach, covering 9.670 million km 2 (3.730.000 sqÃ, mi) only in Africa and America, and has a large global population estimated at 460,000. Although the global population trend has not been quantified, this species is not believed to be near the threshold for the IUCN Red List population reduction criteria (ie, decreased by more than 30% in ten years or three generations), and for this reason, species are evaluated as Few Worries. There is evidence for regional decline in South Australia where former territory in the Spencer Bay region and along the lower Murray River have been vacant for decades.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the main threat to the osprey population was egg storage and adult hunting along with other predatory birds, but the osprey population dropped dramatically in many areas in the 1950s and 1960s; this seems partly because of the toxic effects of insecticides such as DDT on reproduction. Pesticides interfere with the calcium metabolism of birds that result in thin-skinned eggs, fragile or infertile. Perhaps because the prohibition of DDT in many countries in the early 1970s, along with reduced persecution, osprey, and other bird species of prey, has made a significant recovery. In South Australia, breeding sites on the Eyre Peninsula and Kangaroo Island are vulnerable to undeveloped beach recreation and disrupt urban development.
Cultural depictions
The Roman writer, Pliny the Elder, reported that the ospreys of the parents made their children fly into the sun as a test, and sent all that failed.
Another fictional legend on this fish-eating bird, derived from the writings of Albertus Magnus and recorded in Holinshed Chronicles, is that he has one leg and one foot legoned.
There is a medieval belief that fish are so fascinated by osprey that they turn into surrender, and this is referenced by Shakespeare in Act 4 Scene 5 of Coriolanus :
I think he's going to Rome
Like osprey on fish, who took it With the sovereignty of nature.
In Buddhism, the osprey is sometimes represented as "The King of Birds," especially at 'The J? Taka: Or, The Former Birth of the Buddha ', no. 486.
Osprey is mentioned in Chinese popular poetry "guan guan ju jiu" (????); "ju ji ji" ?? refers to osprey, and "guan guan" (??) to his voice. In the poem, the osprey is considered an icon of loyalty and harmony between his wife and husband, because of his monogamous habit. Some commentators have claimed that "ju ji ji" in poetry is not osprey but duck mallard, because osprey can not make a "guan guan" sound.
The so-called "osprey" feathers are an important item in the trade boast of the late 19th century and are used in hats including those used as part of the army uniform. Despite their name, these lumps are actually obtained from herons.
Irish poet William Butler Yeats used the gray osprey as a representation of sadness in The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems (1889).
In symbols, the osprey is usually described as a white hawk, often maintaining a fish in its claw or beak, and is called a "sea eagle". Historically regarded as a symbol of vision and abundance; has recently become a symbol of a positive response to nature, and has been featured on over 50 international postage stamps.
Cap badges from Rhodesia's Selous Scouts (1973-1980) are stylish osprey.
In 1994, the osprey was declared a bird province of Nova Scotia, Canada. This is also the official bird SÃÆ'¶dermanland, Sweden.
The osprey is used as a brand name for various products and sports teams. Examples include: Ospreys (Welsh Rugby team); Richard Stockton College Ospreys (NTAA athletic team of the US inter-state Division III in New Jersey); the first lecture in the country (and the only one for many years) to adopt the osprey as the mascot and the name of his athletics team, the North Florida Ospreys (the NCAA athletics team Division I interollegiate), Missoula Osprey (small league baseball team); Seattle Seahawks (American soccer team of the National Football League); Wagner Seahawks (NCAA athletic team Division I interollegiate); Cold Spring Harbor Seahawks (high school football team in Cold Spring Harbor, New York); Seahawks Peninsula High School (High School Football Team in Gig Harbor, Washington); and St. Mary's College of Maryland Seahawks (team atletic NTAA Division III).
Examples of osprey used as a mascot include: Ozzie Osprey (from University of North Florida); Talon the Osprey of Stockton University of New Jersey; Sammy the Seahawk (from University of North Carolina Wilmington); Wells International Seahawks (from Bangkok, Thailand); Salve Regina Seahawks (from Newport, Rhode Island); LA Harbor College Seahawks (from South Bay); and Rowdy the Riverhawk (from the University of Massachusetts Lowell).
References
External links
- The full text of The Fish Hawk, or Osprey by John James Audubon on Wikisource
- "Osprey media". Bird Bird Collection .
- Osprey photo gallery in VIREO (Drexel University)
- Account of haleraetus Pandion species at NeotropicalBirds (Cornell University)
- UK Osprey Information Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
- Osprey media in ARKive
- Osprey Species Text in South African Bird Atlas
- Osprey - Haliaetus pandion - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification Information Center
- Osprey Info Animal Diversity
- Osprey Bird Sound at Florida Museum of Natural History
- USDA Forest Service Osprey Data
- Osprey's Nest Monitoring Program at OspreyWatch
- Rebound Ospreys, Relying on Human Help Documentary produced by Oregon Field Guide
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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