Osprey Observer March 2009
Sanibel Island, Florida • www.ospreys.com
March 2009
Veteran Raptor Researcher To Speak His current research is focused on
barred owl ecology in suburban and
rural habitats in the North Carolina
at TIOF Annual Meeting
Piedmont, osprey population dynamics
in Southern New England, and the
migration of juvenile ospreys in eastern
Our speaker for The International Osprey Foundation annual meeting on Sunday,
North and South America.
March 29 is Richard O. “Rob” Bierregaard, Jr.,
Bierragaard has also been
Bob Bierregaard
who teaches in the Biology Department
Bob Bierregaard
studying the osprey population on
of UNC-Charlotte, where he has been the
releases an Osprey
with a barred owl
Martha’s Vineyard, Masachussetts
major advisor for six M.Sc. students, past
since 1969. Beginning in 2000,
and present. Previously he managed the
in collaboration with Dr. Mark
Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments
Martell of The Raptor Center
Project out of the Smithsonian Institution’s
at the University of Minnesota,
Museum of Natural History. Dr. Bierregaard
he put satellite transmitters on
was the original field director of the BDFFP
seven adult birds, six on Martha’s
in Manaus, Brazil. While running the
Vineyard and one in Charlotte.
project for eight years, he and his students
Beginning in 2004 he began
collected data from over 50,000 mist-net
tagging juvenile ospreys. Through
captures of understory birds in continuous
the end of the breeding season in
and fragmented rainforest habitat.
2008, he had tagged 22 fledgling
Dr. Bierregaard focuses on the
ospreys.
conservation and ecology of raptors and
“Tracking young ospreys on their
neotropical birds. His many publications have appeared in Conservation Biology, the
first migration has proven to be a really
Journal of Raptor Research, Ornithological Monographs, The Auk, BioScience, and
exciting avenue of research,” says
a number of other scientific journals. He co-authored the Osprey account for the
Bierragaard.
Birds of North America Project, wrote the 81 species accounts for the Neotropical
He’ll be talking about his research at
Falconiformes in the Handbook of Birds of the World, and edited Tropical Forest
our meeting.
Remnants: Ecology, Management and Conservation of Fragmented Communities,
The meeting will take place at the
and Lessons From Amazonia: The Ecology and Management of a Fragmented
Sanibel Community House and will
Forest.
begin at 7 p.m. with a short business
He has presented papers as senior author at annual meetings of the American
meeting and nesting season update,
Ornithologists’ Union, Society for Conservation Biology, Brazilian Ornithological
followed by the speaker. Admission
Society, International Ornithological Congress, Ecological Society of America, and
is free to members; a $3 donation is
International Association of Landscape Ecology.
requested of non-members.
Sanibel’s Ospreys Fledged 79
Chicks Fledged
Chicks Last Year
140
Ospreys on Sanibel rebounded
120
in 2008 and doubled the number
of chicks fledged after a drought in
100
2007 which led to a poor nesting
80
season when only 38 chicks survived.
In 2008, a wet year, 109 nest sites
60
produced 79 healthy chicks.
The International Osprey
40
Foundation has painstakingly repaired
and replaced more than 100 platforms
20
on Sanibel, Captiva Pine Island, Fort
Myers, Bonita Springs and North
0
In this photo by Eric Orkin, a nest at Pine Tree
2003
2004
2005
2006 2007 2008*
Naples since Hurricane Charley in
Drive, Sanibel, had two chicks last winter.
*plus 5 bald eagle chicks (2 behind the Dairy Queen, 1 at Wulfert and 2 in Gulf Pines).
August 2004, thanks to volunteer
Photo by Jason Cheever
labor and the Lee County Electric Co-operative.
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TIOF 2008 Grants
TIOF awarded one $1,000 grant and
one $2,000 grant for two projects, one
in Belize and Australia.
The recipients:
Dear TIOF:
Paul Spitzer, of Trappe, Maryland, for
Here our stragglers are arriving
Study and Conservation of Ridgeway’s
each day. All the damage we had...
Osprey, the distinctive white-headed
is causing this to be a particularly
sub-species of ph ridgewayi, in Belize;
bloody beginning to our season as
they fight over the premier nesting
and
locations. I have been surprised
An osprey bloodied in a fight over nesting
Terry Dennis (second grant) in South
sites last summer in Gold Beach, Oregon
that I haven’t been spattered with
Australia for his project, To Establish
(photo by Bonnie Sattler)
their blood as I click away furiously
Ongoing Support for Research
below them. Sometimes they
Initiatives and Field Trials of Artificial
swoop so close I can’t refocus
Nesting Platforms, to Benefit Isolated
Greetings from deep South Texas,
fast enough. Am attaching some
and Endangered Australian Osprey
pictures for you to enjoy.
My wife Dixie and I are residents
Population at the Extreme Edge of its
living on Long Island, Texas.
Breeding Range in Australia.
So far, most of my return pairs
We are just next to South Padre
are here, and a few new ones.
Island, or about 20 miles north of
To apply for a TIOF grant
Some of those nests were started
Brownsville. We saw on your Web
late last August; and of course,
site how to build an osprey nesting
Please, write a letter explaining in detail
all are gone now. One nest is so
platform, Ospreys are all over the
what you plan to do, where it will be
low to the side of the road, I have
place here, fishing our saltwater
done, who will be involved and when
my doubts about it remaining a
canals and generally wowing us
you plan to do the education campaign.
nest site. It’s a perfect tree, just
daily. But our local newspaper
way too low. I could reach it with
We are always interested in knowing
tells us ospreys do not nest here
an extension ladder. Another is
the estimated cost of the project and
in South Texas. So we decided to
built on a rather “spindly” tree to
whether it is a one-year or multi-year
build a nesting platform to see if
my way of thinking, considering
project and what the other funding
they are right.
the weight their nests can attain.
sources might be. The more you tell us
These birds are youngsters, so
about your project and your advisors,
We finished our platform yesterday
may take a season to get the hang
(early December) at 10 a.m. By
the higher the probability of receiving
of it. My Hardluck pair on the SS3
1 p.m. we had a pair of ospreys
the grant.
nest site made it thru the winter.
working the nest, even moving
They were first-timers last year.
Mail applications to:
some of the grass and twigs
The International Osprey Foundation
They have matured beautifully. A
around, checking things out.They
picture of them side-by-side is one
ATTN: Endowment Fund
hung around until sunset. We are
of those attached.
PO Box 250
most hopeful.
Have seventeen so far I will
Sanibel, FL 33957-0250
monitor. Have spotted several
Applications must be submitted by
Our nest is two 16-foot 4X4s with
others as well thru binoculars, but
January 31, 2010.
a 12-foot 4X4 extension. Getting it
too far away to really be watched
up was no small task, but we got
regularly. About a total of 25 so far.
ospreys! Would there be an easier
Bonnie Sattler,
way to do it for our next nest?
Life members
Gold Beach, Oregon
How far apart should nests be?
Mr. and Mrs. Porter Goss
Anything you could send to help
Dr. Eugene Majerowicz
our effort would be appreciated.
Harvey Rothstein
Charles Rubright
Four of our neighbors helped to
Jim Fowler, San-Cap Nature Calendar
erect the nest and they are all very
Ms. Margaret Smith
excited about this. We are retired
Mrs. Carmen Sanchez
and looking for new projects to
Mr. and Mrs. William Alquist
keep us active and this nest is a lot
Dwight Anderson
of fun. We would be most grateful
Mr. and Mrs. David Ladd
to see some osprey chicks come
James and Martha Kannry
to pass.
Robert and Rita Southern
Thank you,
RJW Foundation
This photograph of a baby osprey
Brenda and Sam Tischler
in nest on Bluff Point, Virginia, was
Tom Bergsma,
Don Scott
taken by Karim Doumar, age 12,
Port Isabel, Texas
Tim and Carol Gardner
standing on his dad’s shoulders.
David Loveland
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OSPREY
This photo by David Webber was taken
BASICS
on Sanibel at a nest on Kings Crown Drive.
The osprey is a large bird of prey
found on every continent except
Antarctica.
Scientific name: Pandion haliaetus
Nickname: fish hawk
Length: 21-25 inches
Wingspan: 58-72 inches
Weight: 2.5 to 4 pounds
Females are slightly larger than
males. The female usually has a
“necklace” of brown feathers across
her breast while the male has a
white breast.
Diet: Feeds almost exclusively on
fish caught in either fresh or salt
water
Habitat: Because of diet, ospreys
live near bodies of water
Nests: Stick nests are usually
built in dead trees and a variety of
manmader structures (telephone
poles or artificial platforms). Both
male and female ospreys contribute
to nest building.
Breeding: Monogamous breeders;
ospreys lay three to four eggs a
year.
Incubation: 38 to 44 days; the
female does more while the male
brings food. Young stay in nest 48
to 60 days. The parents care for the
fledgelings until they are 93 to 103
days old.
Three more
mouths to feed
Eel was on the menu for these
three hungry chicks.
3
U.S. POSTAGE
PaID
P.O. box 250
SANIBEL, FL
Sanibel island, Fl 33957
PERMIT NO. 2
Please Forward
T-ShirTS AvAilAble
Our popular T-shirts in white, 100% cotton, feature a large osprey head in brown with yellow
eye. Price is $15 each, including shipping.
Name _____________________________________________________________________
Address ___________________________________________________________________
City ______________________________________ State _________ Zip ______________
Quantity:
Small ________ Medium ________ Large ________ Extra Large _________
The International
Total T-Shirts ____________ Total Amount Enclosed $ ___________
Osprey Foundation
Send with check or money order to:
Sanibel
TIOF, P.O. Box 250, Sanibel, FL 33957
MeMberShiP FOrM
_________Please enroll me as a member of TIOF
______________________________________________________
_________Please renew my membership in TIOF
Name
Check Membership Category:
______________________________________________________
_____ 6. Donor
$250
_____ 1. Individual
$20
Address
_____ 7. Life
$500
_____ 2. Family
$25
______________________________________________________
City
State
Zip
_____ 3. Sustaining
$30
_____ 8. Student (to Under-
graduate level)
$8
_____ 4. Supporting
$50
______________________________________________________
_____ 9. Corporate: $25 or more
_____ 5. Contributing $100
Country
MAIL TO: TIOF, P.O. Box 250, Sanibel, FL 33957, USA
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