The "Fish-Hawk" Dines on Carillon Stonegate Pond!

You may have seen this bird of prey last Monday (9/17). Circling over the Carillon Stonegate Pond. Then suddenly diving to the surface – talons outstretched - and making a thunderous splash before flying away with his catch!

Osprey flying over Carillon Stonegate Pond.

This was an Osprey – a.k.a, the “Fish-Hawk”. This fishing exhibition was fascinating to have watched.

According to All About Birds (all my sources for information in this blog are identified near the end), the Osprey is “unique among North American raptors for its diet of live fish and ability to dive into water to catch them. Ospreys are common sights soaring over shorelines, patrolling waterways, and standing on their huge stick nests, white heads gleaming”.

Common Name: Osprey.

Scientific Name: Pandion Haliaetus.

What to look for?  There is a similarity to an adult bald eagle, but an Osprey does not have the eagle’s full white head or tail nor are they quite as majestic looking as an eagle. Osprey are brown above and white below. Overall Ospreys are whiter than most other hawks or raptors. From below, the wings of this fisherman are mostly white with a prominent dark patch at the wrists. They have a white head with a broad brown stripe through the eye. The beak is black and strongly hooked. 

Osprey roosting in tree overlooking Carillon Stonegate Pond.

How big are they? The Osprey averages 22 inches in length. They weigh in at approximately 3 ½ pounds. And their wingspan is an expansive 6 feet.

What are their flight patterns? Ospreys are adept at soaring and diving but are not as maneuverable as other hawks. They fly with stiff wingbeats in a steady, rowing motion. And they have a marked kink in their wings, making an M-shape when seen from below.

How else do they behave? When Ospreys hunt, they are singularly focused, diving with feet outstretched and eyes sighting straight along their talons. Ospreys search for fish by flying on steady wingbeats over relatively shallow water. After a successful strike, the Osprey rises heavily from the water and flies away, carrying the fish head-forward with its feet. This sight is fascinating to observe.

What’s for dinner? Fish – live fish! Freshly caught! The Osprey is the only hawk on the continent that eats almost exclusively live fish. Their catch usually measures about 6–13 inches in length and weighes in at less than one pound.

Where do they take up residence? Not at Carillon Stonegate Ponds – only here for the fishing! Ospreys nest in a wide variety of locations across the U.S. Their habitat includes almost any expanse of shallow, fish-filled water, including rivers, lakes, reservoirs, lagoons, swamps, and marshes. Once endangered in Illinois, the Osprey disappeared as a breeding bird from Illinois about 60 years ago. In the 1990s, Cook County Forest Preserves officials, following the lead of biologists in other states, began erecting Osprey nesting platforms—40-inch-wide platforms atop 50-foot-tall posts—in the preserves, hoping the Ospreys would use them to nest. And it worked! The tall structures gave the Ospreys a 360-degree view of their surroundings - something scientists say the birds need when choosing a nesting spot. Today, more than a dozen Osprey pairs breed in Cook County and the surrounding counties. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is now in the fourth year of their program designed to bring more Osprey to the state to increase the number of breeding pairs.

Where do they migrate? The Osprey that nest in northern Illinois in summer spend winters in Florida, Mexico, and South America - similar to the migration pattern of many of our residents at Carillon at Stonegate! Some are permanent residents in southern Florida but migratory elsewhere. Migrants travel singly, not in flocks, often following coastlines, lake shores, rivers, or mountain ridges. In Illinois, the best time to see them is during spring (March) and fall (September) migration.

Range Map Birds of North America

Do they make any interesting sounds? The Osprey’s whistling or chirping calls are noteworthy.

Interesting Facts About Osprey:

• An Osprey may log more than 160,000 migration miles during its 15-to-20-year lifetime.
• Ospreys are unusual among hawks in possessing a reversible outer toe that allows them to grasp with two toes in front and two behind (hawks typically have a single toe in the back). Barbed pads on the soles of the birds' feet help them grip slippery fish.
• Ospreys are excellent anglers, catching a fish on at least 1 in every 4 dives. The average time they spent hunting before making a catch was about 12 minutes—something to think about next time you throw your line in the water.
• The Osprey readily builds its nest on manmade structures, such as telephone poles, channel markers and nest platforms designed especially for it.
• Osprey eggs do not hatch all at once. Rather, the first chick emerges up to five days before the last one. The older hatchling dominates its younger siblings and can monopolize the food brought by the parents (those of us from large families can relate to this!).
• The name "Osprey" made its first appearance around 1460, via the Medieval Latin phrase for "bird of prey" (avis prede). Some wordsmiths trace the name even further back, to the Latin for "bone-breaker"—ossifragus.
• The oldest known Osprey was at least 25 years old.

For more information on Osprey and sources of information used in this blog (these are the sources that I am using to learn as I blog), please visit All About Birds, Audubon Society, Chicago Botanic Gardens, Illinois Raptor Center and Friends of the Chicago River.  There is an excellent article in the Kane County Chronicle. And the Cornell Lab of Ornithology provides a wonderful source of information for anyone interested in learning more about birds.

The Carillon at Stonegate community is very fortunate to have a variety of wetland, forest and prairie environments conducive to a variety of birds and other wildlife. Our community and the Kane County Forest Preserve does an exceptional job in maintaining this natural environment – both for the benefit of the birds and wildlife and for our residents to enjoy. Take a hike and see what you can find – and identify!

And please come back to our blog – “Life on Carillon Stonegate Pond” to learn more about the birds and wildlife the either live or visit this wonderful habitat. As I learn, I share with you.