Ospreys search for fish by flying and hovering over the water, watching the surface below. When prey is sighted, an Osprey dives steeply, its talons outspread, and splashes into the water. It quickly resurfaces and, if it has made a catch, flies off, adjusting the fish in its claws so that the head is pointed forward. Ospreys declined drastically because of pesticides during the 1950s and 1960s, but since then they have made a comeback and are nesting again in areas from which they had disappeared.
description 21-24" (53-61 cm). W. 4' 6 "-6' (1.4-1.8 m). A large, long-winged "fish hawk." Brown above and white below; head white with dark line through eye and on side of face. Wing shows distinctive bend at "wrist." At a distance, can resemble a gull.