Giải trí

Sea falcon’s skillful catching ability

Sea falcon's 'skillful' ability to catch fish
The main food of the osprey is fish. (Source: Twitter)

The osprey (Pandion haliaetus) is a bird of prey that eats fish, distributed in many regions of the world.

Tend to nest near water bodies, they are easily confused with a sea eagle. However, in reality, these two species live quite separately and have no clear relationship.

The osprey is large, with a length of more than 60 cm and a wingspan of 180 cm. Their recognizable feature is that the back and back of the head are gray-brown, and the wings and edges around the eyes are black.

These birds are adapted to the ability to catch prey moving under water, so their food is almost exclusively fish.

However, ospreys are sometimes seen hunting small rodents such as rabbits, mice, amphibians, or small reptiles.

They can also use their size to their advantage to hunt other small birds.

To become an adept fish hunter, the osprey has very good eyesight to recognize underwater objects from the air.

Normally, it often closely observes the movement of its prey when at an altitude of 10 – 40 m above the water. After turning a few times, it plunges down at high speed at a 45-degree angle, and at the same time puts its feet in front of the water to catch the fish.

Sea hawks are particularly well-adapted to this way of catching prey, with their front toes being inverted, and the small sharp spines on the underside of their claws that help keep prey from slipping.

The nostrils can be closed to keep water out as they briefly dive into the water to grab their prey.

To date, only the osprey and the owl are two species of birds of prey that have their big toes on the outside, in contrast to other birds of prey.

This allows them to catch slippery prey (such as fish) easily with a combination of their front and rear toes.

The osprey also has some features that differ from other diurnal birds of prey. Typically, the toes on their feet are the same length, the tarsal bones are mesh, and the claws are rounded instead of grooved.

Sea eagles live in a variety of environments, nesting anywhere near a body of water that can provide them with enough food.

They are found quite commonly on all continents except Antarctica. Particularly in South America, they only appear as migratory, not breeding. If in Africa, the number of individuals is up to about 460,000.

You are reading the article Sea falcon’s skillful catching ability
at Blogtuan.info – Source: baoquocte.vn – Read the original article here

Back to top button