This past May while photographing a pair of nesting Osprey at Flaming Gorge I observed a behavior that was new to me. It’s a little thing but when added up these little things all help to fill in the big picture – a better understanding of the species.
This pair was incubating eggs and would alternate nesting duties.
1/800, f/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural (and very low) light
Here the female on the left has just landed on the nest to relieve the male. Within seconds of her landing the male would take off. That presented a problem – how does the female avoid getting whapped on the head by his very long wings when he launches? The solution – she ducks down and within a second or two he’s gone.
In this image the right wing of the male is whistling over the cowering head of the female.
Which begs the question – what instigates what? Does the male wait until she ducks to take off? Or does the female simply anticipate his take-off and he is oblivious to her vulnerability and posture? Perhaps a combination?
I don’t have a lot of experience with Osprey and I’m sure that many of you have noticed this behavior before so it’s probably old hat to you.
But it wasn’t to me and I thought it might be of interest to some of my readers.
Ron
I’ve always enjoyed watching ospreys and had a very interesting experience with them this last April…along with Canada Geese. I sure wish you had been with me that day with your really great camera and lenses and expertise! I got pictures but not great ones as I don’t have a big enough lens. I hesitate to even offer you the link to the photos because they are so poor but I know how interested you are in bird behavior and this is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen concerning bird behavior, so if you’re interested, here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.559772840734007&type=1
Just click on the first picture and you can read the story as you go along, as well as the comments that some people made about this behavior.
FANTASTIC! What a crazy goose! I know wood duck babies almost float to the ground, but even they bounce a little…and they are often in areas that are either surrounded by soft forest duff…or water. I cringe to think what may have happened to these babies! What’s in the water out there in Utah, anyway???? Thanks, Marya, for letting us see this crazy new housing trend.
Geese have been utilizing former Osprey nests for quite some time now with the increase in their populations and the timing of their nesting season compared to the later season of the Osprey. The goslings take a leap of faith at the appropriate time and float, flutter/parachute to the ground (or water) and have the ability to withstand the landing. Part of the advantage of being mostly fluff.
Bill
That is an amazing experience. I’ve spent a bunch of time around Canada Geese, and not only do both parents take care of the babies, so do all the aunts & uncles and older siblings. I would guess, though, that this was indeed the mother. I’ve certainly never heard of Canada Geese nesting at the top of poles. That’s really bizarre. The food issue is also definitely problematic once the babies are as big as this one is, because they normally eat grass and stuff like that, and fend for themselves that way. One can only hope that both the geese and the Ospreys were successful at their nesting. Thanks for providing this link. Seeing the behavior is far more important than the ‘quality’ of the photos. To me the quality lies in capturing the odd behavior.
Geese are precocial at hatch and as do most other birds they utilize the yolk within their body to survive for a day or so. They also hatch within a few hours of the rest of the clutch. They then leave the nest “together” so there is no need for an adult to provide food for them at the natal nest.
Bill
Thanks for the info, Bill. I was not aware of that. I know I’ve seen very young geese eating grass and the like. The only thing about not needing food at the nest would be when they are up on top of a power pole it it will be some time until they can fly… I’m sure the geese figured something out. It was just strange seeing them up there.
Perhaps I didn’t explain well. The high nest situation is just like if it was on the ground or a floating platform on water. The goslings hatch and within a day they jump from even the very high platforms (like power powers). Once on the ground they forage for vegetation. So nesting up high is not a big issue. They will also occasionally nest on apartment building balconies or even the flat roofs. If you Google the species I’m sure you can find pictures of those types of nesting sites. Also contrary to fairy tales or nursery rhymes they don’t fly down on an adults back. LOL
Bill
Here’s a link with many nesting photos:
https://www.google.ca/search?q=Canadian+Geese+nest+sites&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ThJCUs-zGZGDrQGfqIHoDQ&ved=0CDsQsAQ&biw=1344&bih=697&dpr=1#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=Ge_ymq5VxtyC_M%3A%3BINgpNQ5LpTOjlM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.woodwardsmile.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2011%252F05%252FCanadian_Geese2.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.woodwardsmile.com%252Fcanadian-geese-nesting-on-a-gastown-roof%252F%3B640%3B427
You may have to copy paste it into your browser or simple Google “Canadian Geese Nest Sites”.
Bill
Thanks, Bill. I check it out tomorrow when I have some time.
I’m sure glad you didn’t “hesitate” enough that you didn’t post this link here, Marya. Fascinating! Another example of how I learn at least as much from my readers as they sometimes do from me. Documenting behaviors doesn’t require expensive gear and technically perfect images and I loved seeing your photos. Thank you.
Oh wow. How absolutely incredible. And I am fascinated that she could ‘out-wait’ the ospreys. Thank you so much.
Well, I’m glad I sent the link! Thank you everyone and I’m glad you enjoyed this most interesting experience. I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to observe it. For those of you who may not have read the comments that others made on one of the photos, we saw the nest again in the evening and the goose was still there. We were back again two days later and the geese were gone and the ospreys were happily back on their nest. There were no little bodies lying around on the ground so I can only hope that the little goslings
all survived and made it to the river safely.
Alright!! Thanks for the update…
Marya, thank you for the update! Sounds like it was a happy ending for all. I love Canada Geese, because I’ve had the opportunity to get to know some of them quite well, so I was concerned for the babies. Those geese are pretty smart as well as being very family oriented, so I guessed that they would figure something out.
Isn’t it a delight that there is ALWAYS something new to see, something new to learn. Thank you for this shot and story.
Exactly, Elephant’s Child! You just never know what new and interesting things you’ll see “out there” and I revel in it.
That’s exactly how I am. I am grateful that I never lost my childlike curiosity, and am grateful that you also haven’t lost it.
I like the background as a setting for Ospreys! We don’t get them round Melbourne although this winter there were a couple near Port Phillip Bay Heads. Our Brown Falcons duck their heads when they know people are watching at times, but not sure if this is common otherwise. I’m heading off driving to Cairns in northern Queensland shortly and hoping to do some birding on the way so will keep an eye open to try to see if it happens with other species too.
I’m glad you like the background, Sonja – so do I and I think it’s relatively unusual for osprey shots at the nest. The background was actually a small mountain/cliff in shade.
mazing! Absolutely amazing! Certainly I had never seen this behavior before. What a fantastic shot of it!
Thanks so much for sharing!
Charlotte Norton
Thank you, Charlotte.
Interesting behavior. I see osprey nests periodically when we are in the east, but have never really had a chance to observe their behavior beyond an episode where a baby was working on a fish, which a seagull tried to steal. The gull was not smart enough to realize that one of the parents was watching and that it would protect the baby. Great disappointment for the gull.
Susan, since one of them had to be disappointed, I’m glad it was the gull…
Me, too, Ron. It was fun to watch, and I loved seeing the Osprey parent be protective of it’s young.
I wanted to share a behavior I witnessed that I thought was very touching: The female was supervising the chicks and the male was nowhere to be seen. A helicopter appeared way in the distance over the hills and the female became very agitated and began a distress call. From way up the river came the male. The male reached the nest at about the same time the helicopter flew over the nest (thank goodness there was a great distance in altitude between the male and the helicopter (while the male was high above the nest, the chopper was considerably higher). The male circled the nest perhaps six or seven times until the helicopter flew past the hills on the opposite horizon and then he proceed back down the river. I know raptors defend their nests vigorously, but I was deeply touched by this call for help and answer to that call by the male.
That would have been fascinating to see, Sharon. It’s a behavior I’ve watched for in several nesting raptor species (reacting to a plane or helicopter) but the birds I’ve watched mostly ignored them. Perhaps some of them just get used to them…
I had the great privilege this year to watch a nesting pair over a period of 60 days. I never gave the behavior you mentioned any thought. I just went through my photos and sure enough, they did the same thing you mentioned. I noticed another “shift change” landing/takeoff behavior as well. This nest was huge–it had been used for a couple of years. The landing osprey would approach the nest from the backside of the one on the nest. It would land on the outside edge, turn its head to the left or right so it aligned with the “rim” of the nest rather than protruding over the center of the nest while the other one would take off. Perhaps the head turn was to provide clearance for the one leaving the nest? Both male and female did this.
Thanks very much, Sharon. I appreciate getting your confirmation of the same behavior with “your” birds.
There are quite a few nest cams for Osprey available on the Internet making this behaviour easily visible. It is a shared behaviour with many raptors and likely other nesting birds. Many raptors are able to see on two planes so seeing a mates or siblings wing sweeping toward their head is very possible. It is very common for a raptor to “duck” as something sweeps toward their head. It is somewhat instinctual supported by learned results. Falconers will often “reverse” or minimize this behaviour by stroking their birds head many times over a period of time in preparation to hood training or to help cure hood shyness. Also with raptors there is a good sense of kinesthesis which helps avoid “love taps” by nest mates.
Not sure of what your vantage point was while observing the “duck” but it may have also been the occurrence of the incubating bird lowering their head to roll the egg(s) which is commonly done with the switching of adults.
Thanks for the info, William. I’m confident that this was a “duck” and that she wasn’t rolling the eggs.
I disagree with William Dove…he sounds very knowledgeable, but I don’t think it was a “duck”, I think it was an osprey….
If a “Dove” says it was a “duck”, well it must be a duck… 🙂
If it walks like a duck, and it talks like a duck, it must be…..an osprey???
Patty: I’m not sure if your comment was a joke but I will clarify my “duck” just in case it was thought to be a misidentification. I was labelling the behaviour of the Osprey of lowering its head much like we label the behaviour of humans quickly lowering their head as ducking. I was not claiming the species in Ron’s photos as a duck. I have personally studied over a hundred Osprey nests throughout the Kootenays and been involved in rescuing several as well as placing nesting platforms.
just kidding!!! I was obvious you knew what it was…and a whole lot more.
It is true that in Massachusetts most of the Osprey nests that I saw are very high and one wouldn’t get to observe this interaction. However, in Maine, when I was younger, I was able to watch Ospreys come and go from their nest from a vantage point slightly above and with a scope observed this behavior, but truthfully never gave it a second thought until this post. I at the time thought it was simply a reflex behavior and continued to watch the interaction between male and female, hatching eggs and between parents and young. Your comments gives an interesting perspective. I just have to think more when I watch.
Dick, I have to remind myself to “think” when I watch (through the lens), too. But then I have the advantage of having the images to help me remember what I saw but didn’t necessarily register with me in the excitement of the moment.
I have never noticed this behavior before…osprey often nest on tall utility poles here in the East, but they are usually so high, it’s would be difficult to even see this happening. I suppose it’s possible that a couple of good swats to the head could help one learn to duck..fast!
Patty, I’m pretty sure that both birds were doing this when the other took off. I noticed the behavior multiple times but didn’t always pay attention to which bird was which…