Osprey

Description:

The western osprey (Pandion haliaetus) is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching more than 60 cm (24 in) in length and 180 cm (71 in) across the wings. It is brown on the upperparts and predominantly greyish on the head and underparts. Most taxonomic authorites lump this species and the eastern osprey together (called the osprey), but some (including the International Ornithologists' Union separate them. The western osprey tolerates a wide variety of habitats, nesting in any location near a body of water providing an adequate food supply. As its other common names suggest, the western osprey's diet consists almost exclusively of fish. It possesses specialised physical characteristics and exhibits unique behaviour to assist in hunting and catching prey. As a result of these unique characteristics, it has been given its own taxonomic genus, Pandion and family, Pandionidae.

Habitat:

The western osprey is a widely distributed raptor species. In North America it breeds from Alaska and Newfoundland south to the Gulf Coast and Florida, wintering further south from the southern United States through to Argentina.[22] It is found in summer throughout Europe north into Ireland, Scandinavia, Finland and Scotland, England, and Wales though not Iceland, and winters in North Africa.[23] It is an uncommon to fairly common winter visitor to all parts of South Asia,[24] and Southeast Asia from Myanmar through to Indochina and southern China, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.[25]