Blog # 327 Two mouths to feed

Ophelia and Orpheus (favoring his left eye) with their two hatchlings. 

Today, May 29, hatchling #2 arrived in the early morning hours before the solar camera  turned on. Another bobble-headed little creature appeared, barely able to move yet  eager to beg and feed within a few hours of birth. Their tiny bodies teeter and topple as  their muscles learn to support their enormous heads and feet. At the first scent of fish,  their heads poke out from beneath their mother with gaping mouths. Chicks don’t  always eat just after they hatch as they have had plenty of nutrients from the egg that  has sustained them. Ophelia’s chicks were famished by 8:00 AM: Orpheus flew off to  heed their call.  

Twenty minutes later, Orpheus brought a large perch to the nest, but instead of giving  the whole fish to Ophelia so that she could feed the chicks, he had other ideas. Orpheus  ripped off pieces of fish and fed them bit by bit to Ophelia. He has been doing this  unusual feeding pattern for the last three weeks. She must have been hungry as she  gobbled the first twenty or so bites: after that the fish went to the begging little ones  gapping in front of her. Each bite was a family affair. Orpheus would rip off a piece of  fish and give it to Ophelia, who in turn put it in the mouth of whichever chick’s gape was  widest. In raptors, the eldest chick usually dominates the others, but both Ophelia’s  hatchlings were fed equally.

Orpheus feeding Ophelia 

Ophelia feeding her hatchlings.

Around noon, Orpheus brought an enormous two foot-long white sucker to the nest,  which was the size of Orpheus himself. There was so much fish that the half-eaten  carcass stayed in the nest for half the day until Orpheus carried the remains away. At  one point Orpheus arrived with a second small fish in his talons, but no one wanted it as  they already had plenty with the sucker. 

Orpheus brought a large headless sucker to the nest. 

This is the “cutest” time in the chicks’ young lives. They are covered in a soft protective  down in the same shades of brown as their nest. The young hatchlings cannot  thermoregulate until they are 2–3 weeks old, depending on their mother’s body for  warmth. Ophelia covers the young and the third egg with her body to keep them warm 

and dry. Young hatchlings are vulnerable to cold and wet weather. They can die if they  get wet. Heavy rainstorms, especially if they last for several days, can soak the young  and the nest cup. It has been in the 40–50sº F and raining for several days with more in  the forecast. Two days ago there was a severe down pour, but Ophelia was able to  keep her chick well-protected. Colonies can lose 20-30% of their chicks within a few  days of a severe rainstorm. Luckily, Ophelia and Orpheus have not experienced such  loss. 

Hatchling attempts to defecate out of the nest. 

Nest cams reveal that some nests stay drier than others in such severe storms, perhaps  due to the way they were constructed or how efficiently the females brood. However,  much of this weather-related hatchling loss is in combination with food stress and  whether the male can provide enough fish for the family during bad weather. Orpheus at  Salt Point has an extra advantage to providing for his family. When Cayuga Lake is  stormy and too difficult to fish, Orpheus usually pulls out a bullhead—or a two foot  sucker— from the murky waters of Salmon Creek for the family.  

Eyes to the sky! 

Candace  

Candace E. Cornell  

Friends of Salt Point  

Cayuga Osprey Network 

Lansing, NY  

cec222@gmail.com

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. 

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

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