The Osprey vs. The Eagles
Eagles:
Bald eagles are larger, have a dark chest and underside, white tails, yellow legs and hold their wings flat when they fly. Juvenile eagles are all brown and get their adult “plumage” (white head and tail) around 4 or 5 years old. An eagle’s nest is called an Eyrie. The raptors choose large, sturdy trees with good views of their surroundings. Nest sites are near lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and seashores.A new nest is about 5 feet wide and 2 feet high,with an inside depression 4 to 5 inches deep and 20 inches in diameter.Often a pair returns to the same nest year after year,repairing damage and adding a new layer of sticks, branches and cornstalks, plus a lining of grass, moss, twigs and weeds.Enlarged annually, some nests grow so big and heavy that they break the branches or tree supporting them. Unlike ospreys, bald eagles are not likely to build on artificial structures,although a few have done so . Bald eagles are now fairly widespread, and may show up in all seasons, particularly along major river systems. Nesting pairs might remain in their territories year-round. Many eagles migrate through the states, some from the north and others from southern parts of the U.S. During winter, bald eagles are seen around water bodies across the state. During colder winters, when open water is rare, eagles gather in areas where water remains unfrozen and they can forage.
Osprey:
Ospreys are smaller, have a white chest and underside, grey legs and feet and wings that are not held flat when they fly. Like eagles, ospreys build bulky nests of sticks and twigs, lined with inner bark, sod or grasses. Sometimes they add debris(rope, fishnet, cans, seashells, etc.). Nests are in living or dead trees, on the ground, or on man made structures – cell towers, utility poles, fishing shacks, billboards, light poles, chimneys, and platform-topped poles or towers placed specifically for osprey nesting. Most known osprey nests are on man-made structures. Since ospreys add to nests year after year, the nests can become huge and easily recognizable. Ospreys usually migrate south in winter and return to the upper states in late March and early April to nest. They can be seen migrating south in August, September and October, with peak migration occurring around the middle of September.Ospreys migrate to southern wintering grounds along the Gulf Coast, (southern Florida all the way through Central America and South America.)
To view Osprey vs Eagles document, click following link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XOlOLFwLsgiaYCDa_aRhZ9l0KTFAa7JDHgUjY3N9IY4/edit?usp=sharing
Relations to Each Other
Bald eagles often chase other raptors (bird predators), especially Osprey, until they drop their kills. When the other bird drops its prey, the eagle immediately stops chasing it and grabs the food mid-air. Osprey, gulls, ravens, and hawks are the main targets for the eagles to attack. Many osprey are confused for eagles, but can easily be identified by their size and color. Osprey and Eagles generally have the same nesting and eating habits, although Eagle nests tend to be much larger and 'sloppier' than those of the osprey, (loose sticks, random shapes/ not always circular,) but the osprey are the collectors in the worlds of birds. They bring anything that they can carry into their nests, which can become very cluttered. Eagles also collect but, unlike the osprey, they only pick up greenery. In Writing in Ospreys: A Natural and Unnatural History, Alan Poole lists the things found in osprey nests in the nineteenth century, including: a rag doll, a small doormat, a toy sailboat complete with sail, a feather duster, barrel staves and hoops, a boot-jack, 20 feet of hem pen rope, a blacking brush, and bleached-out bones from domestic animals like cattle and sheep. Eagles and osprey are not normally viewed at the same time, but we know that they tend to migrate to similar areas. Hopefully, we will continue to see our osprey return each year, and maybe even an eagle will settle in our little town.
"Eagles & Osprey - Portal.state.pa.us." 2010. 18 Dec. 2014 <https://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/document/706627/eagles_and_osprey_pdf>
"Unicorn Revised Draft Management Plan - myFWC." 2013. 15 Dec. 2014 <http://m.myfwc.com/media/427545/Eagle_DifferenceBetweenOspreyandEagle.pdf>
"Nest Building Habits of Birds of Prey." (n.d.). Retrieved January 21, 2015, from <http://www.dvrconline.org/builder.html>
"Unicorn Revised Draft Management Plan - myFWC." 2013. 15 Dec. 2014 <http://m.myfwc.com/media/427545/Eagle_DifferenceBetweenOspreyandEagle.pdf>
"Nest Building Habits of Birds of Prey." (n.d.). Retrieved January 21, 2015, from <http://www.dvrconline.org/builder.html>