Osprey Inspection
South Carolina, USA
The osprey (Pandion haliaetus) lives off a diet that is 99% live fish. They fly the skies searching for fish, hovering above the water. They then swoop down into a feet-first plunge to catch their prey, sometimes even submerging completely. Experienced adults can catch fish on up to 92% of their attempts.
Osprey have zygodactyl feet, a fancy way of saying they have a reversible outer toe that allows them to grip fish with two toes facing forward and two backward. The soles of their feet are covered in sandpaper-like barbs (spicules) to hold onto slippery fish. Famously, once airborne, they rotate the fish to face head-first to reduce wind resistance during flight.
Photo © copyright by Dr. Edward Mikol.
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