Pandionidae – Ospreys

The Pandionidae or Osprey family has recently been revised and the former lone species split into two species which are virtually identical but inhabit different areas of the world. They are also called fish eagles, sea hawks, river hawks, and fish hawks. Ospreys are a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range and are large raptors, reaching more than 60cm in length and 180cm in wingspan.

They have brown on the upper parts and are predominantly greyish on the head and underparts, which can look white to the naked eye. They tolerate a wide variety of habitats, nesting in any location near a body of water that provides an adequate food supply. Ospreys are found on all continents except Antarctica, although in South America only as a non-breeding migrant.

As the other common names suggest, the ospreys’ diet consists almost exclusively of fish. They possess specialised physical characteristics and exhibit unique behaviour to assist in hunting and catching prey. As a result of these unique characteristics, they have their own taxonomic genus – Pandion and family – Pandionidae. Four subspecies were formerly recognised, but one has recently been given full species status as Eastern Osprey which is found on the rivers and coastlines of Australia. Despite their propensity to nest near water, ospreys are not classed as sea eagles.

The two species are:

Western Osprey Pandion haliaetus
Eastern Osprey Pandion cristatus