Blog #354 Post-fledging Behavior

Rosie, now a juvenile, is soon ready to migrate, courtesy of Cindy and Karel Sedlacek. 

Pardon me for not posting since early August. I’ve been roaming the Adirondack  Mountains and studying the Osprey population on the NYS side of Lake Champlain—a  stronghold of about 60 plus nests. I will try to catch you up on the Cayuga Lake Ospreys  in the next few postings. 

Since fledging in mid-July, the 3.5 month old Salt Point fledglings Rose, Olan, and Lilibit have demonstrated that they each have a mind of their own and operate on their own  timescales. All three birds developed rather quickly this summer, reaching the post fledging dependency milestones of flying and fishing at least a week ahead of schedule.  In Ophelia’s past broods, the fledge dates are spread out by a few days and the youngest 

Lilibit, the runt of the brood, trying to break a branch, courtesy of Cindy and Karel Sedlacek. 

chicks tend to be hesitant to fly. The runt tends to spend days looking over the nest edge  as if hesitant to fly. Not so this year; all three fledglings were eager to fly. Rosie and Olan  

Lilibit looks for a stick elsewhere, courtesy of Cindy and Karel Sedlacek. 

fledged on the same day, about five hours apart, and Lilibit, showing no signs of  hesitancy, flew a week later. Likewise, all three fledglings began fishing in earnest after  spending only a week or so learning about the lake, the properties of water, and the prey  species living in it. 

Every year, since the first brood at Salt Point in 2013, each phase of the breeding process  from courtship to the post-fledging period has shortened, corresponding to Ophelia’s and  Orpheus’s developing maturity as parents. This year is no different. The longer an Osprey  pair is together, the more efficient they get at raising offspring. The unusual aspect of the  post fledgling dependency is that the father continues to leave food in the nest 2–3 times  a day for weeks to insure the young have the energy to learn to fish. The struggle  between wanting to hunt and the availability of free fish handouts is a delicate balance for  each fledgling. The instinct for independence must be very strong, motivating the young to  hunt instead of taking free food and being dependent on its father.  

Rosie checks out the nest to see if Orpheus left any fish, courtesy of Cindy and Karel Sedlacek. 

Once the fledglings learn to fish and attain full independence from their parents, they are  called juveniles and nest in the trees in near the nest until ready to migrate.  

It takes anywhere from two to four weeks for fledglings to perfect their innate fishing skills,  learn the best fishing spots, and adapt the proper fishing techniques to use. During this  time, the young still depend on fish handouts at the nest and their parents for protection.  The post-fledgling dependence period was abbreviated this year as Rose, Olan, and Lilibit each learned how to fish quickly, becoming proficient hunters able to sustain themselves with fish by the end of the third week. The nest is no longer a focal point for the family as  the members prepare to go their own ways during migration. Once fully independent, the young are called juveniles. 

Orpheus’s offspring are about to migrate, but he also has the future to think about and  keeps the nest in top shape. Even to the day he migrates, he may add a final stick for the  season, readying the nest for next year’s brood.

Olan is being chased in fun by Rosie, courtesy of Cindy and Karel Sedlacek. 

Eyes to the sky! 

Candace 

Candace E. Cornell 

Friends of SaltPoint 

Lansing, NY 

Cayuga Lake Osprey Network 

NY cec222@gmail.com 

Guest Photographers: 

Karel, a Senior Data Analyst, and Cindy Sedlacek (aka BOGette), a Director of Data Administration and Reporting Sedlacek, are long term at Cornell University employees. (BOGette stands for Birder on the Ground). They were introduced into the

wonderful world of raptors after watching the 2012 Lab of Ornithology's Bird Cams -- Big Red and Ezra and Stanley and Iris. Since that introduction they have spent their free time documenting the lives of local Red-tailed Hawks and Ospreys via livestreaming and  photography — https://livestream.com/karelsedlacek —at Cornell and Syracuse Universities. 

EYESTOTHE SKY! 

WATCH! 

Salt PointOspreyNest Cam 

READ! 

OnOspreyTime Ospreys of Salt Point 

VISIT! 

Cayuga LakeOspreyTrail

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