Osprey : Pandion Haliaetus

Image licensed to Mike Baird under Creative Commons.

Behold the mighty osprey! A common sight around Pine Island and Matlacha, this bird of prey goes by many names: sea hawk, fish eagle, and fish hawk being a few. Most locals, however, simply call them osprey.

Unlike most wildlife, osprey aren't skittish. They seem to have no problem being around people. Seeing an osprey nest on a telephone pole, even in middle of residential neighborhoods, is not unusual.

Along with owls, osprey are the only raptors who have reversible outer toes. This setup--two toes facing forward, two backward--is ideal for catching their favorite food: fish. In fact, osprey prefer fish over small game so much that they've become expert anglers. Several studies have shown them able to catch at least one fish out every four attempts, with some success rates nearing 70 percent--high enough to make most fisherman downright jealous.

Osprey Throughout History

• The Greeks believed Nisos, king of Megara, became an osprey to attack his daughter after she fell in love with the king of Crete.

• Pliny the Elder wrote that all young osprey must fly to the sun as a right of passage. Any who fail are dispatched by their parents.

• Albertus Magnus believed osprey to have two different feet; one webbed, one clawed.

• Popular medieval belief held that fish were so mesmerized by ospreys that they would turn belly-up as the birds flew overhead. This is referenced in Shakespeare's Coriolanus:

I think he'll be to Rome
As is the osprey to the fish, who takes it
By sovereignty of nature.