Osprey: Famous Feet Fishers

Osprey

FAMOUS FEET FISHERS

by Adrienne Daeger, research program specialist at The Lilly Center for Lakes & Streams photo courtesy of The Lilly Center for Lakes & Streams

Imagine you’re standing on the roof of a building nine stories tall (or perhaps six, if you are not a fan of heights).

This building is constructed along a lake, and when you look over the roof’s edge, you can see the murky depths below. From this height, you spot a fish near the surface of the water, and your growling stomach prompts you to try and catch it. So you jump from the building. You hit the water feet-first, grab the slick and wiggling fish with your toes, and fly away to enjoy your well-earned meal.

As a human, this scenario sounds like a strange dream. But for an osprey, this daily routine is as normal to us as making lunch. Osprey are a kind of raptor (or bird of prey) that target fish as their main source of food. Unlike other hawks, they are equipped with an array of anatomical tools for airborne fishing. Their excellent eyesight and nearvertical dives help them see and catch fish accurately, even from 130 feet in the air.

Using our human toes to hold a fish is an impossible feat, but ospreys’ sharp talons firmly grasp their slippery prey. Even then it’s a tough job to hold on, so the osprey foot has the ability to move a toe from the front of their foot to the back to get a better grip. Small spines on the pads of each toe give the grip even more traction.

Whether or not a dive is successful, the bird must overcome its last obstacle before dinner: getting out of the water. An oily coating on their feathers keeps the bird from getting waterlogged, and powerful thrusts with their wings take the bird and its prize out of the water and out of sight.

If you spot a large black, white, and brown-feathered bird flying over your lake, watch closely; it might show off how it can fish with its feet.