The Conservation Conversation: The Ospreys of Little Neck Bay

The Conservation Conversation will now be carried on Patch.com as a blog.

Among the most interesting birds to be seen in Udalls Cove and Little Neck Bay are ospreys – majestic cousins of the eagles that eat only fish and, therefore, live only near open water. Also called "fish hawks," they are large and powerful with wing spans up to six feet. 

Ospreys circle above the water and dive down to snatch fish from near the surface in their sharp talons. Then, they deftly reposition the fish so its head is pointing forward. This reduces air resistance as they fly back to their nest or a nearby tree to enjoy the meal or feed it to their young. 

The birds build large nests of sticks, reeds and other material. Their nests are usually set high up in dead trees near the edge of lakes, rivers or the seacoast. In developed areas such as ours, however, most such nesting sites have been eliminated by human beings. Osprey platforms are an alternative to which the species has readily adapted.

Ospreys have been breeding in Little Neck Bay since 1997, when the Udalls Cove Preservation Committee installed a nesting platform in the Alley Park wetlands northwest of the Douglaston railroad station. A pair took up residence there almost as soon as the platform was installed and young have been successfully raised from that nest every year since. In 2004, UCPC installed a second platform on the shoreline of Udalls Cove, east of Douglaston’s Memorial Field. A pair moved in there within weeks and chicks have fledged from that nest almost every year.

The birds are widely distributed throughout the world, but their numbers dropped sharply during the middle of the 20th century due to pollution from the pesticide DDT. Used extensively for control of mosquitoes, which breed in water, the chemical accumulated in tiny aquatic organisms. These were eaten by larger organisms, which were eaten by small fish. The fish were eaten by larger fish, which were eaten by ospreys. Thus, the DDT was “biomagnified,” with the result that the ospreys and other birds at the top of the food chain carried heavy loads of the toxin. 

DDT interfered with the birds’ metabolism, causing them to lay eggs that were infertile and/or had extremely thin shells that broke when the birds sat on them.  For the same reason, bald eagle populations also plunged during the middle of the 20th century.

The pesticide was banned by the newly formed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1972, enabling ospreys and eagles to start to recover. Meanwhile, the loss of natural osprey nesting places was offset by installation of nesting platforms similar to those erected by UCPC. Osprey populations have increased dramatically in recent years. 

UCPC’s nesting platforms are five square feet. The Alley Park platform was installed on top of a 40-foot tall utility pole that was donated and set in place by Con Edison at a time when the wetlands there were being restored and temporary work road enabled the company’s heavy equipment to access the site. But this kind of equipment could not be used in the Udalls Cove location, so that platform was installed entirely by hand. Pre-fitted parts were carried a quarter-mile by volunteers and then assembled on-site into a platform that stands about 16 feet high.

Ospreys are migratory. They arrive like clockwork during the last week of March.  They are monogamous and inclined to return to the same locations year after year. So, the pairs on our Little Neck Bay platforms are likely the same ones who originally built the nests or, perhaps, their direct descendants. Eggs are laid in April and hatch in May or early June. 

By July, the young birds are full grown and learning to fly. During these months, there will almost always be one or more birds in or on the nest, making them easy to observe with a pair of binoculars. If you approach close to the nest, which is possible if you come by canoe or kayak, the birds will become agitated. Both young and adult ospreys will then make a somewhat feeble peeping sound, which is quite out of character for such a powerful creature. An adult may circle overhead, presumably an attempt to scare you away. But don't worry - it will not actually attack.

By late September, the entire family heads south for the winter. Some ospreys migrate as far as Central or even South America, but many stop when they reach Florida – like any sensible New Yorker.