Tag: Osprey

Truck driver records collision with giant fish falling from sky

A North Carolina trucker discovered Wednesday that road hazards might include large fish dropping from the sky.

A North Carolina trucker discovered Wednesday that road hazards might include large fish dropping from the sky.

The accompanying footage, captured via dash-cam on a Charlotte bridge, shows an osprey rising from the water with a fish in its talons, and releasing its catch directly in front of the oncoming truck.

The result, as viewers can see in the soundless video, was a resounding splat.

Stated Ward Transport via Twitter: “One of our Charlotte drivers verifies that when driving a truck, you must be prepared for ANYTHING!”

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Ospreys, which prey almost exclusively on fish, occasionally drop their prey if the fish are too large or squirmy.

The Ward Transport video shows the truck to be traveling at 63 mph and it could be that the osprey might have dropped its catch to ensure that it cleared the height of the oncoming truck.

–Image courtesy of Ward Transport

Watch: Nice catch by osprey, excellent steal by pelican

A Florida wildlife photographer has captured rare footage showing an osprey masterfully nabbing a large fish, only to lose its catch to a clever pelican.

A Florida wildlife photographer has captured rare footage showing an osprey masterfully nabbing a large fish, only to lose its catch to a clever pelican.

Mark Smith shared his video in a tweet Friday with a “Wait for it” introduction.

Smith has captured hundreds of clips showing ospreys catching fish in Florida waters. But this was the first time he has documented a pelican stealing a fish as the osprey takes flight.

“Ive seen them try a lot, but this was a first in terms of success,” Smith, who captured the footage at Vero Beach, told For The Win Outdoors.

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Ospreys and brown pelicans are expert fish catchers with vastly different techniques.

The former plunges into the water talons-first and grabs fish with the help of reversible outer toes and barbed foot pads. The latter dives head first and traps fish in its large bill pouch.

But as is often the case in the animal kingdom, theft of prey that has already been caught is sometimes the easiest means to a fresh meal.

Catch limit? Voracious osprey nabs three fish in one swoop

A Florida photographer has captured footage of a large osprey plucking three fish out of the water in one swoop.

A photographer on Monday captured video footage of an osprey lifting a fish  nearly its size out of Florida’s Sebastian Inlet.

While Mark Smith‘s footage is spectacular, he informed For The Win Outdoors that he recently captured footage of an osprey flying off with three fish in its talons. (The clip is posted below.)

An ambitious endeavor, but the pinfish were slippery and one wriggled free and continued to wriggle as it plummeted toward earth.

How did the osprey respond? The raptor simply transferred one of the other two fish to its free talon, and flew off with enough food to last an entire day.

Smith joked on Twitter: “Oh what’s that? There is a two fish limit? Well let me leave one right here for later.”

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Smith said ospreys have been on a feeding spree lately in and near the inlet, and that diving ospreys are a fairly common sight.

Ospreys, which prey almost exclusively on fish, can plunge talons-first more than three feet below the surface, and can catch fish weighing a pound or more.

They’ll often spend hours consuming their meals from high perches such as branches, cliff faces, and even the tops of power poles and light posts.

–Video courtesy of Mark Smith Photography (image is a screen shot)

‘Wait for it!’ Watch as osprey pulls giant fish from inlet

A Florida wildlife photographer on Monday captured footage of an osprey diving talons-first into Florida’s Sebastian Inlet and flying off with a fish nearly its size.

A Florida wildlife photographer on Monday captured footage of an osprey diving talons-first into Florida’s Sebastian Inlet and flying off with a fish nearly its size.

Mark Smith told For The Win Outdoors that the osprey nabbed its meal, an Atlantic menhaden, at Sebastian Inlet State Park, and carried the fish 300 yards to a nearby perch.

While the footage is dramatic, and the fish a heavy lift, Smith said this is not a rare sight at this time of year.

“The birds were in a feeding frenzy and I have dozens of clips like this,” Smith said.

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In fact, the photographer added, he has seen ospreys catch much larger fish, and early last month he captured footage of an osprey flying off with three fish in its talons, ultimately dropping one.

“Oh what’s that? There is a two fish limit? Well let me leave one right here for later,” Smith tweeted.

Ospreys, which prey almost exclusively on fish, will often spend hours consuming their meals, usually from high perches such as branches, cliff faces, and even the tops of power poles and light posts.

Osprey nabs giant bass, and of course anglers are jealous

A Florida wildlife officer this week watched an osprey pull from the water a largemouth bass so big that it did not even attempt to fly off with its catch.

A Florida wildlife officer this week watched an osprey pull from the water a largemouth bass so big that the bird did not even attempt to fly off with its catch.

Of course, the catch became the envy of anglers from around the state.

“These birds catch bigger fish than I do!” one angler declared in the comments section of a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission post on Facebook.

The post shows three images of the majestic raptor standing on a riverbank with the lunker bass.

“Officer Davenport was in his patrol boat on the Santa Fe River when he saw the osprey wrangle a large fish out of the water! Since the bass was nearly as big as the bird, the osprey decided to dine right there at the water’s edge,” reads the description.

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“Wish I could catch a bass that big,” another angler chimed in.

Yet another angler recalled watching a similar event that he once witnessed during a slow day of fishing.

“One of these pretentious [birds] spent a full five minutes circling the pier where we were fishing from while carrying a HUGE bass and screaming at us,” the comment reads. “Obviously he was making un of us for failing to catch anything.”

Largemouth bass are prized game fish in Florida, and among the many species of fish targeted by ospreys, which are found year-round in the state.

The birds of prey, with wing spans of up to six feet, catch their prey by plunging feet first into waterways with their talons.

Typically, ospreys will fly off and eat from the safety of a high perch. But in some cases, apparently, a riverbank will suffice.

–Images courtesy of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Is that really a shark in talons of giant bird? Experts chime in

Video footage showing a large raptor soaring over Myrtle Beach clutching what looks like a shark in its talons has the Internet abuzz.

Striking video footage showing a large raptor soaring over Myrtle Beach, S.C., clutching what looks like a shark in its talons, has the Internet abuzz.

“Sharknado Now Real Life as a Bird Carries a Shark in a New Viral Video,” screamed one headline this week. “Bird plucks an alarmed shark from the ocean,” declared another.

The footage was captured by Tennessee resident Ashley White, with an iPhone from the 17th floor of an apartment building.

It went viral after being tweeted by Tracking Sharks on June 30, under the headline, “Anyone know what type of bird this is and is it holding a shark?” (Video posted above.)

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As of Friday morning, the video had been viewed more than 17 million times.

But social media audiences aren’t always naive. Broad consensus was that the bird was an osprey. They prey almost exclusively on fish and are commonly seen flying with fish in their talons, head-first, as is the case in White’s video.

But while some were convinced the osprey had caught a shark, many noticed the V-shape of the tail and guessed that it might have been a mackerel.

For The Win Outdoors asked Chris Lowe, director of the Shark Lab at California State University – Long Beach, and he responded: “It looks like a mackerel to me, too. I kept saying ‘holy mackerel,’ but apparently nobody got it.”

Michael Domeier, president and executive director of the Marine Conservation Science Institute, was more blunt: “Definitely not a shark.”

Since Tracking Sharks’ original post, followers have been tweeting videos of ospreys clutching large fish in their talons. It’s what they do; they’ll sit for hours consuming their meals from a high perch.

One of the videos, shared Thursday by Dylan Mellor and attached to the original video (posted above), shows a close up of what looks like the same bird with the same fish on a short post lower to the ground.

“I spent like 45 minutes filming him,” Mellor wrote. “He flew off at one point and I jogged half a mile down the beach to find him and film him again.”

–Images courtesy of Ashley White