My dad and I recently decided to go on a drive to Victoria Beach, a small vacation community on beautiful Lake Winnipeg. The drive took us past several osprey nests, these resting on platforms erected on tall poles specifically built for these eagles. These platforms provide a safe haven for the birds to nest.
Ospreys are superb fishers, fish often comprising 99 percent of their diet (and explaining why they like to nest beside rivers, lakes, and coastal waterways). In North America osprey share habitat with bald eagles and are often confused with them, especially at a distance, but are identified by their white underparts (bald eagles have a white cap and tail, but are dark brown elsewhere). Osprey’s heads have a distinctive black eye-stripe that goes down the side of their faces. Bald eagles are not as efficient at fishing as osprey and often force them to drop their fish (which the bald eagles then consume).
(osprey feeding its young)
Most ospreys are migratory birds that breed in the north and migrate south for the winter.
