Wikibooks: Field Guide/Birds/Pandion haliaetus

• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antarc*; Antarctica; osprey; Pandion haliaetus
• Online Access: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Field_Guide/Birds/Pandion_haliaetus

Bird id name = Osprey latin name = Pandion haliaetus level = 4 image 1 = OspreyNASA.jpg caption 1 = A North American Osprey preparing to dive. call = Pandion haliaetus.ogg‎ description = The Osprey Pandion haliaetus is a medium large raptor which is a specialist fish eater with a worldwide distribution. It occurs in all continents except Antarctica but in South America only as a non breeding migrant. It is often known by other colloquial names such as fishhawk seahawk or Fish Eagle . The Osprey is {{units 52 60 cm 20.5 23.6 inches long with a units 152 167 cm 5 5.5 ft wingspan. It has mainly white underparts and head apart from a dark mask through the eye and fairly uniformly brown upperparts. Its short tail and long narrow wings with four long finger feathers (and a shorter fifth) give it a very distinctive appearance. Juvenile birds are readily identified by the buff fringes to the upperpart plumage buff tone to the underparts and streaked crown. By spring wear on the upperparts makes barring on the underwings and flight feathers a better indicator of young birds. Adult males can be distinguished from females from their slimmer bodies and narrower wings. They also have a weaker or non existent breast band than the female and more uniformly pale underwing coverts. It is straightforward to sex a breeding pair but harder with individual birds. In flight Ospreys have arched wings and drooping hands giving them a diagnostic gull like appearance. The call is a series of sharp whistles cheep cheep or yewk yewk . Near the nest a frenzied cheereek ! The Osprey is particularly well adapted to its fish diet with reversible outer 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. It locates its prey from the air often hovering prior to plunging feet first into the water to seize a fish. As it rises back into flight the fish is turned head forward to reduce drag. The barbed talons are such effective tools for grasping fish that on ...