Change of Address

Ospreys are large, fish-eating raptors, and they make their homes on high perches close to coastlines, rivers, and lakes. But they don’t always pick the best real estate—take, for example, a perch on an electricity transmission pole near Stockton Lake, northwest of Springfield, Missouri.

For the past five years, there had been Ospreys perching on poles around the lake, occasionally with nest supplies. Still, none had actually built a nest. For a while “we were living in peace and harmony,” says Jason Grossman, a vegetation management coordinator with Empire District Electric, the company that owns the poles.

But then a pair of Ospreys began to build a real nest. In the process, one of the birds dropped a stick onto a charged wire that had “a lot of juice [6,900 volts] running through it,” says Grossman. It started a fire that cut the power to a Springfield city water pump.

The birds were unharmed, but the electric company knew it needed to do something to avoid future hazards, to Ospreys and humans alike. It couldn’t simply remove the Ospreys—though not endangered, the species is federally protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (and there are just a couple dozen active Osprey nests in all of Missouri). So Empire got in touch with the Greater Ozarks Audubon Society.

The GOAS knew that simply removing the nest wouldn’t persuade the Ospreys to leave, so instead they suggested offering the persistent birds an alternative—a nesting platform. These large structures have been used to create homes for raptors since the 1960s; they’re sort of like a bluebird box, but for very large birds. “They took us up on the idea,” says GOAS board member Greg Swick.

At 70 feet high, the nesting platform Empire erected stands a little higher than the poles, but is far enough away from the live wires to keep the birds from harm. On February 24 the company relocated the nest from one platform to the other. The task was a delicate one: Electric workers tied the nest together with twine, and developed a sling to make the transfer to the new home, about 50 feet away. (It would have been harder to move if there were eggs or young Osprey offspring in the nest.)

Then everyone waited to see if the birds would take to their new home. In March they spotted the Osprey couple tending to the new nest, and bringing fish back. On April 12, Swick spotted an egg for the first time.; a second egg appeared two days later.

The success story isn’t over yet: There are at least eight other Osprey pairs hanging out around the lake near the poles, and the company has plans to put up more nesting boxes, says Grossman.  "Apparently they heard we built good houses.”

Watch the osprey cam for yourself here: http://mclivetech.com/ospreycam/

What to do if you spot a nest:

Do not disturb

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal to interfere with an active nest—that is, one where there are eggs or young birds.

Pick up the phone

If you think there’s a problem, call someone in the know, like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. From the ground, it can be hard to tell if a nest is active or not. And moving an active nest requires a level of care that should be handled only by a pro, for the safety of the birds and the humans.

Build a replacement

Osprey typically come back to the same spot to nest, so simply removing an inactive nest is a temporary solution. Building a platform that is close to the old location, but taller, provides an appealing option for the birds.