Blog #480 A Net-fix: Netflix Removes New Jersey Osprey Nests

The watchful eyes of a male Osprey, courtesy of PBS.

Ospreys returning next year to Monmouth County, New Jersey from spring migration will get quite a shock: their nests will be gone. The entertainment mega-giant Netflix, in its march across the state, purchased Fort Monmouth, an enormous former military base well-known as a haven for Ospreys. Now this coastal area is slated for development. Numerous Osprey nests are scheduled to be removed as Netflix proceeds with its mammoth construction campaign.

Netflix developers won approval from the Borough of Oceanport (“the Borough”) last year

and unanimous preliminary approval from the Monmouth County Commissioners last month to “relocate” Osprey nests away from this mega parcel. In this case, “relocate” means the nest is removed, and a nesting platform is built elsewhere. Final permits to begin the nest relocations are awaiting approval of Netflix’s Avian Mitigation Plan by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Plan charged to protect and conserve wildlife.

To their credit, Netflix has replaced extant nests elsewhere in the county with proximate

nests, but the Fort Monmouth relocations are another story. According to Netflix’s Avian Mitigation Plan, they will begin by relocating eight nests to four different parks and preserves in the county. How does Netflix expect the displaced, ‘high site fidelity’ Fort Monmouth Ospreys to find these new nest sites? The answer is the displaced Ospreys can’t. That’s quite a net-fix. Ospreys are persistent and will probably try rebuilding at the original nest sites. Their efforts will put them constantly at odds with Netflix disrupting their breeding season.

 

A nest with chicks amidst the Fort Monmouth construction, courtesy of Sunayana Prabhu.

Displaced Ospreys choosing to leave the Fort Monmouth site will face increased predation as they seek nest sites elsewhere. Unwittingly, moving into a bald eagle’s territory, for example, can be disastrous for the Osprey and their forthcoming brood.

Mitigation focussed on lessening the severity, danger, or damaging effects of a problem is  inadequate when facing human-wildlife conflicts. It is short-sighted of the NJDEP to think such mitigation plans protect and conserve wildlife. These mitigations are licenses for developers to destroy habitats by promising their creation elsewhere, a promise rarely kept.

There is still time for Netflix to revise their plans and choose a less stressful route for the birds by placing nesting platforms close to the nests being removed. Still, nothing would happen without NJEDP permits, but they were granted this spring, and three nests have been removed in a separate Monmouth County-Netflix project.

Platform style Netflix will erect for the nest exchange plan, courtesy of Sunayana Prabhu.

Ospreys may return to the Jersey shore any time between January to May, with April to

August being the most active months in the nesting season. Nests containing eggs or young are classified as “active,” and those without are classified as “inactive.” New Jersey regulations clearly state that nests, whether active or inactive, “cannot be entered or disturbed without first obtaining a permit” from the state and federal wildlife agencies and satisfying a host of other conditions.

In January 2025, New Jersey removed Ospreys from the state’s endangered species list and changed its status from “threatened” to “stable.” This is wonderful for Osprey numbers but it will lessen their protection.

New York State Osprey populations were downgraded from the state’s endangered species list in 1999 from “threatened” to “special concern”, where they remain today. However, New York’s environmental laws do not protect inactive nests like the more stringent New Jersey laws even though they are often reused  within five years. Numerous active and inactive nests were lost in the last four years in the Greater Cayuga Lake Basin when National Grid removed miles of utility lines in the mucklands and north of Route 5/20. More on Osprey protection, population numbers, and regulations will be discussed in future blogs.

Eyes to the sky!

Candace

Candace E. Cornell

Salt Point Natural Area

Cayuga Lake Osprey Network

cec222@gmail.com

Eyes on Ospreys!

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Complete Cayuga Lake Osprey Trail

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PROTECT:

• Stay 100-300 feet away 

from Osprey nests during the breeding season.

If the Osprey vocalizes or flies off the nest you are too close!

BACK OFF IMMEDIATELY.

• Always carry binoculars to view wildlife from afar and use you car for a blind.

• Collect and dispose of used fishing lines, twine, nets, and plastics

which can kill Ospreys and other animals of the lakeshore

FIND A BABY OR INJURED ANIMAL?

Call the Swanson Center at 607-253-3060.

The Janet L. Swanson Wildlife Health Center, an annex of the Cornell University Hospital for Animals, is a veterinary hospital dedicated solely to the treatment of ill or injured native wild animals. They provide expert medical and surgical care for over 1,000 patients annually, from locally and across the state of New York, with the goal of releasing them back to the wild. The Wildlife Health Center operates within Cornell University, a registered nonprofit, and relies largely on public donations. 

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