How Ospreys live

Ospreys have a clear pattern to their lives. Because we’ve studied and tracked them, we know roughly what they’ll be doing from the moment they’re born.

  1. Egg
  2. Chick
  3. Juvenile
  4. Adult

As an egg

In Scotland, female Ospreys begin laying eggs in late April. They build a large nest (an ‘eyrie’) of sticks lined with moss, bark and grass – often at the top of tall Scots pines.

An Osprey nest The eggs are pale with reddish-brown blotches, and are about as big as a large hen’s egg. Ospreys new to laying will usually lay two eggs; older birds lay three or occasionally four.

Both adults take turns at incubating the eggs, though the female does most of the work. The male provides her with fish, and chases away any predators.

What do Ospreys eat?

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