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Osprey in flight, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, 2014.

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) tolerate a wide variety of habitats and will nest almost anywhere near a body of water with an adequate food supply. The osprey has many common names, including fish eagle, sea hawk, river hawk and fish hawk. Perhaps not surprisingly, the osprey's diet consists almost exclusively of fish (99%). Though many animal eat fish, the osprey has unique behaviors to assist in hunting and catching prey. This uniqueness has lead to the osprey having its own taxonomic genus, Pandion, and family, Pandionidae. Specifically, osprey have vision that is well adapted to detecting underwater objects from the air. Prey is spotted from an amazing 33-131 feet above the water. Then the bird hovers momentarily before plunging feet first into the water.

U.S. National Park Service

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Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Code: CUVA

National Park Service Facebook Photos

Title: Cuyahoga Valley National Park
URL: https://www.facebook.com/CuyahogaValleyNationalPark?fref=ts

20141010

10/10/2014

Public Can View

Organization: Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Address: 1550 Boston Mills Road, Peninsula, OH 44264

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