Blog # 333 Growing Double-time

Orpheus brings a fish to his family (nestlings are under Ophelia). 

The best time to see the three Osprey nestlings is during a feeding. When their father,  Orpheus, brings a fish, three fuzzy brown heads pop up, wobbling like drunken sock  puppets with long necks and sharp beaks. Just visible over the edge of the nest you  might also catch sight of their small bodies and wings, covered in peach fuzz. Feeding  footage is recorded by the Salt Point Osprey Nest Cam 2021 and a close up at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= 

YuDSa5tv4kI. 

Rosie, Olan, and Lilbit are 17, 14, and 12 days old, respectively. The offspring are  imprinting and forming critical attachments with their parents, especially their mothers,  and learning to be Ospreys. The three nestlings at Salt Point are growing before our  eyes, their weights doubling every week in those early stages. It is a race against time: 

the sooner they grow, the more time they will have to learn flying and fishing, life skills  they must master before migrating in September.  

Ophelia feeding (L-R). Olan (11 days), Lilibit (9 days), and Rosie (14 days old).

The exponential sigmoidal growth spurt of osprey nestlings, courtesy of Dyfi Scotland. Osprey chicks grow slowly during their first days after hatching. At about ten days, their  growth begins to accelerates for about 20 more days until approaching their adult size  by day 30. The three nestlings are in this accelerated growth phase, changing their size  and appearance daily. By day 35, the growth of the male chicks levels off; the females  continue to grow, becoming much bigger than the males.  

The 2–3 week-old nestlings are well camouflaged, a defense from aerial predators; their  light spinal stripe and dark sides look like twigs in an empty nest. Ophelia has taught the  chicks to lay flat and still in the nest after she gives a sharp warning call—a harsh  Cheerp!  

Some ornithologists consider this behavior as feigning death or “playing possum,” a  behavior common in the animal kingdom. Pretending to be dead generally makes the  prey less desirable to predators that hunt only living prey. However, I don’t believe the  Osprey young are “playing possum.” The primary aerial predators of Osprey are bald  eagles, which eat live prey as well as carrion. Staying still is most likely part of their  protective coloration camouflage. With feathers the shades of twigs, the motionless  nestmates go undetected when unattended in the nest.

Adorable Reptilian Phase Osprey young, courtesy of Andy Morffew. 

Keep watching the Salt Point Nest Cam. It offers a unique opportunity for our  community to learn about the secret lives of these unique raptors. Over the next six to  eight weeks, the hatchlings will eat an monumental amounts of fish, grow to adult size before your eyes, lose their downy fuzz, transiently appear like miniature dinosaurs, and  then grow magnificent feathers that will enable these young birds to fly. 

Eyes to the sky! 

Candace  

Candace E. Cornell  

Friends of Salt Point  

Cayuga Osprey Network 

Lansing, NY  

cec222@gmail.com 

EYES ON OSPREYS 

WATCH! 

Salt Point Osprey Nest Cam 2021

READ! 

On Osprey Time—A Blog on the Ospreys of Salt Point 

VISIT! 

Cayuga Lake Osprey Trail 

HELP PROTECT OSPREYS 

• AVOID GETTING TOO CLOSE TO NESTING SITES DURING THE BREEDING SEASON. IF AN ANIMAL  VOCALIZES WHEN YOU'RE NEAR, YOU ARE TOO CLOSE! BACK OFF IMMEDIATELY. 

• CARRY BINOCULARS TO VIEW WILDLIFE FROM AFAR. 

• RESTORE, CLEAN, AND PRESERVE LAKESHORE AND WETLAND HABITAT. • RECYCLE USED FISHING LINE, WHICH CAN BE HAZARDOUS TO OSPREY.  

• JOIN THE CAYUGA OSPREY NETWORK AND VOLUNTEER TO HELP MONITOR OSPREY NESTS. WRITE TO: CEC222@GMAIL.COM.

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