Osprey ( Pandion haliaetus, family: Accipitridae)

osprey kruger national park birds The Osprey (Latin name Pandion haliaetus) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 170 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 473 also a picture of the Osprey on page 433. The Osprey belongs to the family of birds classified as Accipitridae.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Osprey is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a rare resident

In terms of distribution of the Osprey in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Osprey : see above distribution map.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The Osprey is a largish bird about the same size as a Pied Crow. The height of the Osprey is about 59 cms and its weight is about 1570 gms

You will find that the male Osprey plumage and colours are different to that of the female Osprey

  • Head is brown.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is white.
  • Back is brown.
  • Legs are white.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Osprey feeds on wing mainly

Aquatic life forms

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Osprey is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Pandion haliaetus will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Osprey is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are red in colour and number between 1 to 4

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

You will normally see the Osprey by itself rather than in the company of birds of the same species.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Visvalk

German ... Fischadler

Portuguese ... guia-pesqueira

French ... Balbuzard pcheur

Dutch ... Visarend

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 170

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za