08/05/2026
What is that bird? 🦅 🦉
With the return of the warm weather, we welcome back the Ospreys as they make their yearly migration from Africa to the UK. These highly-anticipated raptors can be a tricky spot if you’re unfamiliar with them, here’s what to look for:
🎨 Appearance:
Ospreys have dark brown backs and contrasting white underparts, which isn’t particularly unique among raptors. However, they do have pale grey legs and a black beak, which differs from the yellow seen on many birds of prey!
🪽 Wing Shape:
From a distance, the wings of an Osprey form an ‘M’ shape when in flight! Instead of holding their wings flat, Ospreys have a bend in their wings while soaring, which can give them a gull-like appearance.
🕶️ Facial Markings:
If you get close enough, you might see the broad, dark stripe across the eyes of an Osprey that looks something like a mask. This unique marking helps reduce the glare from the surface of the water when hunting fish!
🐟 Location:
Ospreys are piscivores - meaning they have a diet of exclusively fish, which they can often be seen diving into water to catch! As they rely solely on fish to survive, Ospreys can be seen around bodies of water including the sea, rivers, lakes, or reservoirs, or travelling between water sources.
💍 Leg Rings:
To monitor their population, almost all Ospreys in the UK have coloured rings on their legs. Using these rings, it’s possible to identify the individual bird at a distance based on the ring’s colour and code!
