Osprey questions

[Wild-Woman]

What weight of fish can an osprey carry and is there an absolute maximum load (obviously) but what is it?
Also, is it me or do they carry the fish head first to streamline the catch?
And, once they hit the water, grasp the fish and lift back up, their wings must have the most incredible muscle strength to then compensate for the extra weight?

[dunlin]

They do carry fish head first to keep it streamlined, dont know about the maximum weight, and they do have large wings for the size of the bird.

Did you manage to catch autumn watch last night, they filmed an osprey in africa that had caught a fish and it was feeding it to a slender billed gull ( i think)
The gull was approaching the osprey in a submissive posture and the osprey fed it small morsels as though it was feeding one of its young. It was really strange to watch

[JeffH]

According to Osprey expert Roy Dennis (in his book 'A Life of Ospreys') -

"Ospreys eat any available species of fish but prefer those in the 150-300 grams weight range. Prey, though, can weigh anything from 50 to 500 grams and sometimes even up to 1200 grams...."

And yes, they do carry their catch head first so as to create a more streamlined flight profile

Jeff
(Schedule 1 Licence holder for Kingfishers, Barn Owls and Avocets)

[Wild-Woman]

Thank you Jeff and Dunlin. Yes caught up with AW footage. Hope Roy's 2000 nesting pairs prediction for the future happens, that would be wonderful and particularly some for the Thames region.