More single adults raising chicks alone…

 Update on the single mom I have been writing about….( tho I have now discovered at least 4-5 others). Yesterday when I got to the nest at 6:30 am there were no adults. I worried that they spent the night alone, easy pickings for great horned owls. And their crops were empty. After about 30 min KISA showed up with a small fish….the chicks fought aggressively over it ( a sign they are not getting enough food) and the KISA departed again and came back quickly with another fish. With both chicks eating and an adult there, I went to check other nests. Sadly I discovered at least two nests where I did not see a male during two different visits and the females were leaving chicks alone to go get food. I also found some other nests where the number of chicks has gone down and I didnt see a male but I am not sure if those females are actually alone. I feel like something quite alarming is happening. 

When I returned to the original single females nest at about 2 pm, the chicks were alone again and then a male came and landed on the nest perch. I looked at his breast and saw a few spots and wondered if KISA had gotten some fish guts on his white breast….and then he looked down and I saw his dorsal feather pattern on his head…..nope, that’s not KISA! ( studies have shown that the feather pattern on the top of an ospreys head is unique to each bird and remains the same thru out it’s life, so it can be used to identify unbanded birds).  NOTHING attracts unmated males like an undefended territory….it’s a magnet to them. So this male was testing, “ why isn’t anyone chasing me away?” I wondered the same thing, and I worried if he would be aggressive with the chicks. It was funny how the chicks were food begging and this male was leaning away from them! Then all of a sudden there was a flurry of flapping wings, the male left, and there was Mom!  And she had a fish. Whew! One chick began eating….and after a short time KISA came with a fish also, so chicks were chowing down and they were safe. Last evening Pat went to check them again and both Mom and KISA were there, each brought a fish. So the chicks went to bed with full crops. This morning Mom was there, but her crop was empty and chicks were food begging….but she didnt go get fish. I watched for nearly 2.5 hours and Mom took off and did not return. About noon, I left again to check more nests and recheck some from yesterday where I thought there was a single female caring for chicks. I confirmed that today. Sigh. And I am so far behind on nest checks and my concern is growing about what is occurring on our nests. I returned to our focus nest at about 3 pm and KISA was there and both chicks had a fish. So I came home. The chicks have made it thru half of this sizzling hot week, largely due to this amazing male, whose behavior is a bit miraculous. The  last super hot day is supposedly tomorrow, with temps beginning to lower a bit on Friday. We had some storms go thru last night and I was deeply worried about those two chicks AND lil Arb….so not much sleep for me. Thank goodness it was just heavy rain and not severe winds or hail so all is well. But the big question remains….what is happening? This is why I have always felt this research is important….because Ospreys are an indicator species and when their numbers plummet it is telling us something about our environment. So I have 30 years of data to look at. The number of failures is becoming high, tho not as high as the year we had massive black fly hatches….not yet anyway. But our mortality rate is soaring. That’s a big red flag. The knot in my stomach is growing.

July 24, 2023…

 After my visit to the single females nest yesterday, 7:30-4, it was troubling that she never showed up at all. So one of our volunteer monitors, Pat, went there in the evening and lo and behold the female was there! In 90 minutes she brought two fish and fed the chicks! Totally normal behavior, tho odd that she had not been there at all during my time there during the day. The new male, Kisa did not show up at all during Pats visit, tho I had seen him bring fish during the day. Today I was there at 6:30 am and the female was there with the chicks, so it appears that she spent the night with them. She hung out on the nest for 3.5 hours, however, in spite of the chicks food begging, she did not feed them at all. Their crops were empty. At 10 am she flew off and did not return. I waited for two hours and then went searching for her. I went to a nearby lake and scanned the lake, the trees, every nook and cranny to no avail. I saw people fishing there successfully so a good spot for ospreys, but she was not there. I returned to the nest and the male was there, and one chick was eating a fish! It must have been a small fish because he finished quickly and clearly had some food in his crop, but not a lot. The other chick remained empty. It was 89 degrees and muggy so I ran off to Starbucks for an iced coffee! When I got back the chicks were alone. The male returned quickly tho with a bigger fish and the chicks took turns stealing it and eating, and when the fish was finished both had fairly full crops. The make remained in the nest during this time, and at one point another osprey flew over and he moved closer to the chicks to protect them. They had no breakfast but had a good lunch. I left at about 3 pm. Now we are not seeing the two adults there together, and they are acting like a divorced couple with shared custody! I dont know what to make of all this, especially the females failure to feed them any breakfast, but she fed them well last evening! If they continue to share feeding duties, the chicks will probably be allright. I can make no sense of the females behavior….or for this unrelated male to be doing some feedings, usually in the afternoon. WTH? Neither one of them is acting like a fulltime parent.

We also have discovered at least three other nests with a single female.….and there may be more I havent discovered yet. We have never had so many adult mortalities mid season. Two of our older experienced banded males have disappeared and we are grieving their absense. We have no idea what happened, tho one observer reported seeing eagles and ospreys fighting at one of these nests. The females are struggling…one nest has lost two chicks and the female is trying to care for the remaining chick. At another nest the female is caring for two chicks. It can take some time to figure out that a male is missing at this time of year since, when chicks are big and hungry all the time, the males are fishing full time…..so its common to find no male at a nest. But when we find the female gone too, it’s often a sign that she is a single parent. If we find fewer chicks in a nest it can also be a clue that the female has been unable to provide enough food for all chicks to survive.

And I have not been able to get to all nests as often as I would like…there just arent enough hours in a day, and days in a week for me to get to all the nests. ( and of course I am spending too much time at this one troubled nest trying to figure out whats happening.) I encourage all the nest monitors to try to locate two adults on every nest, even if it means return visits or just waiting. Something is going on that I cant explain….but we need to make a point of looking for both adults, especially if only one adult was seen on the last visit. I know its not always easy to locate males this time of year. And when we do see two adults, thats a very important piece of info to put in the reports. A huge thanks to all the nest monitors who are toughing out this brutal week of extremely hot and muggy weather. I know it’s not easy, or pleasant….tho it’s not too bad at 6 am! And now, I have to go to bed.

Wow…

 So many sad stories, baffling stories to tell. I can’t fit them all in one post nor can I offer explanations for all the losses. Let’s start with the single female I have spoken about, whose mate is at TRC in rehab last we heard. She managed to figure her situation out and took grand care of three chicks for the first month, tho one was clearly smaller and lagging behind developmentally. Sadly that chick died. But she continued to care for her two remaining chicks. She was never gone from the nest for more than 10-20 minutes at a time. During that month we often saw an unbanded male flying over and she always responded by chasing him off. Nope, go away. Typical behavior. Then she finally let him land on the nest with a fish! She stood over her chicks protectively as he landed, and then she walked over and grabbed the fish and then snapped at him and said “scram”. So he did. Then she started to let him stay on the nest! Then earlier this week after he had brought a fish or two, she took off. I waited around all day and she did not come back! After five hours, I left. I was certain she had met some unfortunate fate. I pondered what to do, what was happening. I went back very early the next day and lo and behold she was there with the chicks! The male brought a fish and she fed the chicks and she let him stay and hang out. But after a while he left…..and so did she, never to return that day! The male kept coming with fish, for chicks that are not his offspring. In my 30 years of field work I have only seen a male do this one other time. Most females will chase a visiting male off. Of course you all know that bringing fish is an important part of the courtship ritual, so I have always assumed that a male that did this was courting the female, and the chicks were just a bit of an annoyance. On the other nest where I observed this many years ago, that male never brought fish to the chicks, just to the female and she fed the chicks. He did chase other males away and defended the territory. But he did not provide all the food, that female still had to go get food for her chicks, but she definitely had some help. ( He became the territorial male the following year, so this behavior may be a way to secure a mate and a good nest in a desirable territory.) Now on this current nest, that female, who was so devoted to her chicks for over a month of being a single parent, is now leaving every morning and not returning to the nest for at least 7-8 hours. I have not yet gone back in the late evening to see if she returns to spend the night, but I hope to do that. (Honestly I am so tired from weeks of field work without a day off, waking at 4 am, checking nests all day, and all the stress of losses and bizarre events, by 7 pm I am dead.) Anyway, this is now day four of this behavior. I am baffled. I have searched for her and am quite certain she is not anywhere nearby where she can see the nest. I will expand my search further away to another lake. And meanwhile, back on the nest, that male is hanging out with the chicks and bringing fish during the day! He will not feed them, or shade them, and they struggle a bit with self feeding, especially when he delivers a fish with a head on it. But they are surviving. He also chases away other ospreys and eagles. Anyone who was not paying close attention would assume all is well on this nest, when in fact these are very unusual behaviors all around. These are not his chicks, the female is not caring for her chicks in a normal way. I have wondered if she is sick, and not able to care for the chicks. But so far, every morning she is there for a few hours at least.

Perhaps we underestimate the stress and repercussions of being a single parent in the osprey world. Could that explain her sudden need for time away from the nest? is she just depleted?

I do not normally name the ospreys, but I am calling this new unbanded male KISA, for Knight In Shining Armor. He is behaving as a normal father would, but he has no biological incentive to care for these chicks, especially when the female isn’t! I am scratching my head and searching my mental files for a way to understand it. I wish my mentor, Sergej Postupalsky ( who studied ospreys in Michigan for over 50 years) was still alive to discuss this with. He loved these stories and always had interesting insights, tho he also repeatedly said I was teaching him too with my intense field work and careful observations. I am still so damn curious about osprey behavior, and I think behaviors are changing as our population grows and as climate change affects the world. We are facing an extremely hot week ahead and I am worried about how these chicks will fare, without a mom during the blazing hot days. Will this male continue his provisioning? He is now clearly caring for them and not just courting this female. And remember, there is a long time mate still in rehab. It’s quite a thick plot! So many questions, concerns….and, man, ya just gotta love this male!

And how will I handle checking on them during these sizzling days ahead. Lordy.

More stories to come….

Fledging!

 Our first three chicks have fledged sucessfully! One nest, all in one day! This was one of the first pairs to return and the first to lay eggs, so they have been my indicator nest this year…..now we start watching other early nests for fledging.

Another shocking possible catastrophe unfolding elsewhere and I was there all day yesterday, will return this morning as I try to figure out whats happening and if there is anything I can do. More later.

Single female…

 I went back to the nest with the single female today to see what was going on with that new male. I found the female and her two chicks just hanging out quietly…..I watched for about 45 minutes and during that time she occasionally started food begging and moved closer to her chicks. Finally the unbanded male arrived with a fish and she went over to him and took the fish from him….and he willingly let her have it. Then she turned and snapped at him! He just stood there so she lunged at him…SCRAM! Wow. This is so interesting….she didnt quite trust him, so she did move closer to her chicks in a protective posture. But he clearly was delivering a fish to her. And yet she didnt want him there. So she is not accepting him as a potential mate, but will take his fish. Hmmmmm. And because I am always so interested in behaviors, I now want to stay all day and see if she is leaving to get fish sometimes, or is she depending on him fully for food. This was the second fish delivery I have seen. Its fascinating! Will behaviors change over time? Will he get tired of providing for a family that is not his. Will she begin to accept him? I am still curious after 30 years of watching ospreys.

But jeeeez I have so many other nests to check, bands to try to read, and the fledging window has opened so we are watching for those first flights. AND I still have nests where chicks are so small, I dont have a full count of the chicks yet!

I was happy to see that MS at the Arb delivered breakfast right on schedule at 5:30 a.m. this morning! No slacking allowed buddy!

Interesting….

 Another challenging week in the osprey world here. We are discovering quite a few losses on the nests….three chick nests now have two, two chick nests now have one. The single Mom who was raising three chicks as of last sunday, now only has two. One was smaller than the other two, and now that wee one is gone. This morning I have been watching the Arb cam with growing concern. The male has always delivered a fish at about 5:30 a.m. and he has not been seen since about 6 p.m. last night. The female is clearly looking for him. Will she be smart enough to go get a fish? I have a knot in my stomach.

Another unusual observation at the nest with the single mom occurred yesterday. While her mate has been in rehab, another unbanded male has been seen often. She always reacted to him as an intruder, not allowing him to land on the nest, chirping at him. Yesterday she allowed him to land on the nest with a fish….she made no aggressive moves. He sat on the corner of the nest eating the head off the fish, and then she went over and grabbed the fish, and he let her! Then he flew off and she fed the remaining two chicks. It’s unusual in this circumstance for her to allow another male on the nest. In my 30 years of studying ospreys I have seen this happen once before. And it’s unusual for a male to deliver a fish to a nest where he knows he is not the father of those chicks. There is no biological incentive. But the one time I observed this, many years ago….that male would not feed the chicks or deliver fish to them….but was just delivering a fish to the female as part of a courtship behavior….and he cemented his spot on that nest for the following year. He rescued a damsel in distress to gain a territory.

Ahhh the male at the Arb did show up two hours later than usual with a fish, so all is well there!

Growing fast…

 I have been so pleased to watch the female at the Arb really doing better every day at developing her parenting skills. The little chick has been well fed and Mom has even figured out how to shade her little one. Whew. I am watching little Arb putting on weight each day, and these past few days I am noticing that the next big transition for the chick is beginning. I notice some little puffs of down on the nest as he/she approaches two weeks of age. This is when they begin to lose their light colored down and their heads and bodies turn a darker color. It’s kind of the ugly stage, when they look like a prehistoric creature. But when they are approaching three weeks of age, they start to get their head feathers and will begin to look like a real osprey! The feathers grow in from the top to the bottom….head feathers first and then what are called pin feathers start poking out on their back. The chicks grow SO fast….Alan Poole, one of the osprey experts says they grow to 70-80% of their adult size in the first 30 days!

Even now, every morning when I check in on them first thing in the morning 5:30 ish, I feel like he grew so much overnight! I also am usually catching a feeding at that time which is reassuring.

I am glad we finally are having some smooth sailing for this osprey family, after such a difficult start. We are gonna have a couple of stinking hot days before it cools a bit…so I hope they get thru this…with lots of fish and lots of shade from mom for Little Arb.