Osprey
Pandion haliaetus
Dan LaVorgna · North Carolina
Key facts in one look
- Size
- 50–66 cm, wingspan 1.27–1.8 m
- Diet
- Almost only live fish
- Status in Georgia
- Migrant
- Recorded regions
- Adjara; Kvemo Kartli
- Habitat
- Sea coasts, lakes and rivers, mostly up to 1,000 m
- Family
- Pandionidae
- Conservation
- Global LC (2021); Georgia LC (2024)
The osprey (Pandion haliaetus) is a large bird of prey: it is 50–66 cm long, with a wingspan of 1.27–1.8 m, and weighs 0.9–2.1 kg. It is dark glossy brown above and white below. It feeds almost only on live fish, which it catches by plunging feet-first into the water. It is harmless to people. The 2024 Georgian checklist lists it as a migrant. Most observations fall in September, fewer in March and April. Most records come from Adjara, followed by Kvemo Kartli. Both globally and in Georgia it is rated Least Concern (LC).
Identification
Osprey: how to identify it
A large, long-winged raptor, dark brown above and white below. Its white head has a dark stripe through the eye, and the underwing has black patches at the wrist. It holds its long, narrow wings arched like a gull's.
It is dark glossy brown above and white below. The breast sometimes has brown streaks, which are weaker in the male.
The head is white, with a dark stripe from the eye to the sides of the neck. The bill is black, the cere bluish and the feet white.
In flight it holds its long, narrow wings arched like a gull's, with drooping tips. The underwing has black patches at the wrist, and the tail is short.
Colour
Swatches are illustrative. Do not identify a species by colour alone.
Often confused with
It is a bird of water: it lives by sea coasts, lakes and rivers, mostly from sea level to 1,000 m and occasionally up to 4,100 m. It also tolerates human settlements. It builds its nest near water, high in an exposed tree, on a pole or on an artificial platform. In Georgia most records come from Adjara, mainly on the September migration, for example in the Chorokhi delta and near Kobuleti. There are fewer records from Kvemo Kartli, in Gardabani Municipality, in March to May and in August. Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Shida Kartli, Tbilisi, Kakheti, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, Guria and Abkhazia have only a few records, by lakes and on the coast, mostly in the migration months.
The osprey map combines public iNaturalist observations from Georgia. Regions are taken from the records-by-region table, and the status column separates regions with enough records from regions with too few records. Two regions have enough records: Adjara and Kvemo Kartli.
Data: Reptiles.ge + iNaturalist · Methodology
- Field observation
- Several records in one spot
- Photo record
- Region with records
Fish make up 99% of its food, usually 150–300 g in weight and 25–35 cm long. It spots a fish from 10–40 m above the water, hovers, then plunges feet-first, often going completely under. Its toes are of equal length, the outer toe can turn backwards, and the undersides carry small spines that grip slippery fish. It closes its nostrils when it dives, and its oily plumage does not soak up water.
Ospreys that breed in Europe winter in Africa, and some in South Asia. They head south from August, arrive by October and return in March and April. It usually migrates alone, on a broad front, and crosses the sea with flapping flight. It flies by day, covering 260–280 km a day and sometimes up to 431 km. More than half of the deaths of Swedish ospreys happen on migration. In Georgia most observations fall in September, fewer in March and April. Its call is a "cheep, cheep" or "yewk, yewk", and near the nest a "cheereek". A pair usually stays together for life. The nest is up to 2 m wide and can weigh up to 135 kg. It lays 2–4 white eggs with reddish-brown blotches. Incubation lasts 35–43 days, and the young fledge at 8–10 weeks. It becomes sexually mature at 3–4 years. It usually lives 7–10 years. The oldest known wild osprey in Europe was 26 years and 11 months old.
Globally the osprey is rated Least Concern (LC, 2021). There are 100,000–1,200,000 mature birds, and the number is increasing. In the 18th–20th centuries it was persecuted and its eggs were collected. It became extinct in Azerbaijan through deforestation and the collection of eggs and live birds. In 1950–1970 numbers fell in the USA because of pesticides: DDT thinned the eggshells. After DDT was banned the populations recovered, helped in places by reintroduction. It is still shot on migration across the Mediterranean. The species is listed in Appendix II of CITES and of the Bonn Convention, in Appendix III of the Bern Convention and in Annex I of the EU Birds Directive. The 2024 Georgian checklist also rates it Least Concern (LC) in Georgia.
Dan LaVorgna · froggymum · Glenn Berry · Giorgi Natsvlishvili · Tom Heijnen · David J Barton · Eduardo Campos Wals · leekelai · hsde66
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Yes. The 2024 Georgian checklist lists it as a migrant. It is seen most often in September.
Most records come from Adjara, especially in September, in the Chorokhi delta and near Kobuleti. It is also seen in Kvemo Kartli, in spring and in August.
It is dark brown above and white below, with a dark stripe through the eye on its white head. In flight it holds its long, narrow wings arched like a gull's, and it has black patches at the wrist.
It is 50–66 cm long, with a wingspan of 1.27–1.8 m, and weighs 0.9–2.1 kg.
Almost only live fish, usually weighing 150–300 g. It catches them by plunging feet-first into the water.
Near water, high in a tree, on a pole or on an artificial platform. The nest is up to 2 m wide. In Georgia it only passes through on migration.
The osprey is harmless to people. Both globally and in Georgia it is rated Least Concern (LC). The species is listed in Appendix II of CITES.
References
What this profile is based on
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Prepared by the Reptiles.ge editorial team from the sources listed here.
