Project OspreyWatch Launched
Azalea Travels into Chesapeake
February 21, 2012
Become an Osprey Watcher: Connect with a global community of observers
February 22, 2012
Williamsburg, VA – The Center for Conservation Biology has launched Project OspreyWatch, a project created to engage a global community to collect data on breeding osprey. Linked by an interest in osprey and a concern for the health of the aquatic environments on which they rely, this community will for the first time provide a global perspective on this charismatic species. The mission of Project OspreyWatch is to bring citizen scientists together in order to collect information on a large enough spatial scale to be useful in addressing three of the most pressing issues facing aquatic ecosystems including global climate change, depletion of fish stocks, and environmental contaminants.
Osprey are one of very few truly global sentinels for aquatic health. They feed almost exclusively on live fish throughout their entire life cycle. They are a top consumer within aquatic ecosystems and are very sensitive to both overfishing and environmental contaminants. Nearly all populations breed in the northern latitudes and winter in the southern latitudes, effectively linking the aquatic health of the hemispheres. Their breeding season in the north is highly seasonal making them an effective barometer of climate change.
OspreyWatch is a user-friendly, internet platform that allows observers across the globe to map their nests, log observations, upload photos, and interact within an observer forum. Information entered into the platform will be immediately accessible to users and will be summarized following the breeding season. To join a growing community of global citizens, please visit http://www.osprey-watch.org and become an OspreyWatcher.
7 week old osprey chick. Photo by Bryan Watts
DOWNLOAD RESOURCES:
FROM: Center for Conservation Biology, College of William and Mary – Virginia Commonwealth University
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 22 February, 2012
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Dr. Bryan D. Watts, Director
bdwatt@wm.edu
(757) 221-2247 office
(757) 272-4492 cell
Barbara Slatcher, OspreyWatch Coordinator
bgslatcher@wme.edu
(757) 221-1617 office
(757) 678-6915
Center for Conservation Biology
College of William and Mary
Virginia Commonwealth University
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An adult female osprey on a nest in the York River. The resident pair in this territory arrived in early March and remained on the territory throughout the nesting season. Despite being resident, she never was documented to lay a clutch. The most likely explanation for large numbers of pairs not laying clutches in 2024 is that females did not reach the nutritional condition required to produce eggs. Photo by Bryan Watts.
Osprey with menhaden. Due to its high energy density, menhaden is a critical prey item for osprey populations along the Atlantic Coast and within the Chesapeake Bay. Reductions in the availability of menhaden result in a decline in the prominence of menhaden in the diet and related diet quality. Prominence of menhaden in the diet is generally believed to be linked to productivity and population stability. Photo by Bryan Watts.
