Osprey

This post features photos of several Osprey that we saw while in Florida in January.

 

There is just something so fiercely majestic about birds of prey that it's impossible for me not to admire them. It's a little hard for me to think about their dining habits sometimes; but the fish that make up 99% of the Osprey's diet don't play on my sympathies quite as much as the warm-blooded animals and birds that fall prey to other raptors.

 

Osprey are similar in size and appearance to eagles. They're also known as sea hawks, fish eagles, or fish hawks, and are found on all continents except Antarctica, although in South America the Osprey occurs only as a non-breeding migrant.

 

 

They hunt by soaring above the water. When they see a likely dinner prospect beneath the surface of the water, they hover briefly, then dive swiftly, feet first, to catch their hapless victim in their talons.

Success!