Osprey: how to recognise it
A bird seen on most continents. Learn the marks that make it easy to identify, then practise with real photographs in Lore.
Practise with real photosAll species guides
Photo © Greg Lasley · CC BY-NC · iNaturalist · all photo credits
- Scientific name
- Pandion haliaetus
- Family
- Ospreys
- Size
- About 58 cm
- Habitat
- Lakes, rivers and coasts on migration
- Found in
- Europe, Africa, Asia, North America, South America and Oceania
The key marks
White head and underparts with a dark eye stripe, and wings bent like a gull's with a dark patch at the wrist. Common Buzzard is brown below.
Voice
A short, whistled 'pyew-pyew'.
Good to know
It plunges feet-first into the water to catch fish and carries them head-first.
Do not confuse with
Compare it with the Common Buzzard. Look at the marks above one by one rather than the overall colour, and practise telling the two apart with real photos.
Where and when
You can expect to find it in lakes, rivers and coasts on migration. It is especially common in Florida and the United States. Distribution changes with the seasons and from year to year, so check a recent local observation source before you go looking.