Osprey

Listen to example recordings of the main vocalisations of Osprey, provided by xeno-canto contributors.

This species can be found on the following statutory and conservation listings and schedules.

UK Birds of Conservation Concern	Amber listed
Species of European Conservation Concern	Least Concern
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (global)	Least Concern
Schedule 1 license required (to disturb)	Yes
Birds Directive Annex 1	Yes
Listed on the Annexes of	WCA(I,IV), WBD(I), Bern(III), Bonn(II), CITES(II)

Ospreys became more or less extinct in the early twentieth century (Dennis 2008) but numbers have increased substantially in the UK since the 1950s when successful breeding began at Loch Garten. The latest submissions to the RBBP give a mean figure of 242 breeding pairs over the five-year period 2015–2019 (Eaton et al. 2021). This is considered to be an under-estimate of the true population as coverage is no longer complete in the core part of the range in Scotland. The range of the species across the UK has also expanded, mostly as a result of successful reintroduction schemes.

The Osprey's main breeding range is the straths and lowlands of eastern and central Highlands of Scotland, plus Tayside and central Scotland. Through introductions and ongoing colonisation there are now breeding birds at several sites in southern England and Wales, and many summering birds associated with a number of large wetland complexes.

Ospreys are one of the earliest summer visitors, some individuals arriving as early as late February, though most don't arrive until April. Some individuals linger well into autumn.

View a summary of recoveries in the Online Ringing Report.

Foreign locations of birds ringed or recovered in Britain & Ireland

View number ringed each year in the Online Ringing Report

Maximum Age from Ringing	20 years 11 months 0 days (set in 2005)
Typical Lifespan	9 years with breeding typically at 3 year
Adult Survival	0.85
Juvenile Survival	0.6 (in first year)

Feather measurements and photos on featherbase

Ring size	K
Field Codes	2-letter: OP | 5-letter code: OSPRE | Euring: 3010

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Causes of change

The effective extinction of Osprey as a UK breeding species in the early twentieth century was caused by persecution and egg-collecting (Dennis 2008). The increases since the 1950s have been driven by increased protection and intensive conservation action, including nest-guarding and a reintroduction programme in England (Schmidt-Rothmund et al. 2014).