Oldest Osprey

Robbie Carrobie provided this link on an osprey in Scotland:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/8617401.stm

By any standard this is an old osprey. At CRC we have a 16 year old osprey but it's much easier to live a long life in captivity than it is in the wild. As a general rule, captive birds will live about twice as long as their wild counterparts. Some exceptions: The American Kestrel is the most common falcon in the US and a kestrel has lived a pretty good life if they make it 5-7 years. In January we buried a kestrel at CRC that was coming up to its 16th birthday! And, like many of our old birds that pass away, it died of conditions of old age that wild birds only rarely encounter - cancer. Cancer, cardio-pulminary disease, pneumonia, etc.; these are the things our old birds will die of that we almost never see in wild birds.

A barn owl out here lives an average of 24 months in the wild. In captivity they can live 20 years or more. Life is rough when you're a wild predator.

Out here in Oregon, osprey and bald eagles are the fishers. A bald eagle is a scavenger that will also eat a lot of other things, both live and dead, but the osprey only go for live fish. Osprey are better at it, too. An osprey can dive into the water, get a fish a good meter or so in, then "swim" to the surface and fly off with the fish. Bald eagles only skim the water. If they dive in they're going to have to swim to shore. "Eagle paddle" as it were. Eagles are fairly smart, and lazy too. They know the osprey is the better fisher. It's not at all uncommon around here to see bald eagles hanging out where osprey are fishing, and if the osprey is successful then the eagle goes after the osprey and if the osprey knows what's good for it, it will let go of the fish. Klepto-parasitic behavior is what that is.

Anyway, that's a lot of rambling to point out why the osprey in Scotland is deserving of media attention. She's a very rare case of a very old bird - and still laying eggs!

More information about Cascades Raptor Center at

www.Eraptors.org

Originally posted by Badwater
Robbie Carrobie provided this link on an osprey in Scotland:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/8617401.stm

By any standard this is an old osprey. At CRC we have a 16 year old osprey but it's much easier to live a long life in captivity than it is in the wild. As a general rule, captive birds will live about twice as long as their ...[text shortened]... f media attention. She's a very rare case of a very old bird - and still laying eggs!

one time my friend drove past a dead bald eagle on the freeway. i said "did you grab it? their worth lots of money you know." he said no. he was with his family and they would of had a fit. i said "idiots"

Originally posted by bot 6
one time my friend drove past a dead bald eagle on the freeway. i said "did you grab it? their worth lots of money you know." he said no. he was with his family and they would of had a fit. i said "idiots"

you might have to sell them on the black market, its ill-eagle to have them in possession unless you have a permit.

Originally posted by bot 6
you might have to sell them on the black market, its ill-eagle to have them in possession unless you have a permit.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/eagleslaughter/

Originally posted by bot 6
eagleslaughter

Originally posted by bot 6
one time my friend drove past a dead bald eagle on the freeway. i said "did you grab it? their worth lots of money you know." he said no. he was with his family and they would of had a fit. i said "idiots"