July 26, 2005
The First Flight
Nest Update: First, the weather. The area is currently going through a nasty heat wave, and the mother osprey has been doing her best to shade the chicks. The heat index (what it actually feels like) for tomorrow is supposed to be almost 115 degrees, although it might be a little cooler near the water. From what we hear, the heat should lessen on Thursday, and we certainly hope so.
Also, we had some interesintg shots this week showing the chicks learning how to perform nest maintenance. At first the oldest started imitating mom by rearranging the sticks, then the youngest joined in. Nest upkeep will be an important skill in the future.
Now onto our topic of first flights...
The oldest chick is rapidly approaching his first flight. The normal fledging age is 48-59 days and our oldest is now 46 days old. Last year our first fledgling went at 50 days, so it shouldn't be long before the oldest takes the first big plunge.
Avian parents do not need to teach chicks to fly -- chicks fly instinctively. And it's important that the fledglings get in all the flying time they can because by the beginning of September, these young birds will be on their way to Central or South America for the winter -- an arduous journey that they will make alone.
At this point the osprey parents can't do much to help the young to fly, but they might try to encourage them by withholding food so the juveniles will want to get out of the nest to find something to eat.
As for the length of the first flight, the distance depends on the accessibility of nearby perches. The cam platform is tall and is not near anything to perch on (it's out there by itself in the marsh), so the first step off the platform is a big one. During the first early flights, the juvenile ospreys will likely either fly a hundred yards or more to the nearby trees or they will perch on the ground until they have the strength to fly back up to the nest.
The idea of a juvenile osprey striking out for the first time is an exciting notion, and famous ornithologist Arthur Cleveland Bent penned a wonderful description of an osprey's first flight in his book Life Histories of North American Birds of Prey:
"Finally, confidence in the power of its wings, or the example set by its parents, prompts the boldest of the young to make its first real flight away from the nest, a supreme moment in its life. With surprising ease it sails or flaps along, but it soon becomes tired and looks for a place to perch. Its attempts to alight on a treetop are awkward and uncertain; it has not learned to grasp a slender perch and finds it difficult to get its balance with much flapping of wings and wiggling of tail. It may be forced to alight on the ground to rest...Such flights are short at first and the young always seem glad to return to the firm flat top of the nest, which will be their headquarters, bedroom, and dining room for several weeks yet."
Landing is, no doubt, a difficult skill to master for any young raptor, and many of the juveniles make some very ugly landings before they get the hang of it. Last year, one of our fledglings accidentally landed on momma.
As for fishing, it can take the juveniles a couple weeks to become skilled at catching their own meals (some juveniles do it in only 2-3 days), but the parents will be there with food even if the young have difficulty snagging their own dinner.
It's interesting to note that while juvenile ospreys are flying about, they will sometimes land on a neighboring osprey nest. We have quite a few osprey nests at the Refuge (several visible from the Wildlife Drive), and last year we even had a wandering juvenile land on our cam platform. The mother osprey looked a tad surprised to suddenly see an extra chick in the nest, but adults usually tolerate such inexperienced visitors -- and some have even been observed feeding them! Kind of like "Trick-or-Treat" in the osprey world.
In the next web log we'll post a slide show that illustrates how ospreys dive to catch their meals.
Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster