Over these next days, let’s be sure to look to the skies to welcome back our good neighbor, one that’s been greatly missed after its long migration to Central and South America last fall, especially as we wrestle with the great challenges before us. Let’s welcome home this symbol of endurance and integrity and hope.
Ospreys are world citizens, living wherever there are fish. Unlike bald eagles, ospreys eat only live fish, often menhaden. Although decimated by DDT, a persistent insecticide commonly used until 1972, ospreys and other raptors and birds at the top of the food chain (e.g. eagles, hawks, falcons, pelicans) have recovered, although at less-than-historic numbers. Ospreys are especially remarkable in that they mate for life, are long-lived (20 years or more), have helpers at the nest (typically kin, offspring from previous years, much like wolves and other animals), and they often nest colonially, sharing information using a kind of aerial dance to indicate the best fishing.
As with other wildlife, our relatives, please be sure to thoughtfully observe, appreciate and enjoy, and please let ospreys and our natural world inspire us to better address our most significant challenge, one well documented by more than 2,000 of the world’s leading climatologists – climate change.
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