Nest cameras reveal the secret lives of ospreys.
If you are looking for truly unscripted reality television, check out an osprey nest cam. Family squabbles, sibling rivalry, murderous intruders, and first flights are all high drama in the osprey world.
Nest cams capture wildlife behaviour without human interference and the real-time live video feed is a wonderful educational tool. The cycle of life, importance of habitat, and species interdependence are all dramatized as the ospreys raise their families. A night-vision camera can even give us a peek at an osprey’s sleep habits.
The opportune time to install a nest cam is when a nest must be relocated. In 2001, a fire on a utility pole destroyed Ethel and Oscar’s nest in Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia Power’s Osprey Relocation Program provided a safe nest site for the pair and partnered with the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History to launch a live video stream available to the public. Similarly, FortisBC installed a nest cam when they relocated an osprey nest in Kelowna, British Columbia, in 2007. Tune in to see what Samson and Delilah are up to today.
In Sandpoint, Idaho, there are two active osprey nests at Memorial Field, a park busy with baseball, soccer, and football games. The birds, of course, had taken up residence atop the massive lights that illuminate the park – a very dangerous location (more on urban osprey nests here). In 2011, the aging light standards were replaced, but the community didn’t want to lose ‘their’ ospreys. The birds are members of the community too – noisy and messy sometimes – but still loved. The new light standards feature a nesting platform and web cam above the lights, and almost 1000 feet of high-speed cable connecting the birds to the internet.
There are osprey nest cams all over the world. In Calgary, Alberta, Enmax has installed nesting platforms in and around the city for almost twenty years, including a camera on the nest near the zoo. Where are other osprey cams?
- Dunrovin Ranch, Montana – check up on Harriet and Heiko – be warned: this camera has audio and the birds can be very noisy!
- Chesapeake Bay, Maryland – see what Tom and Audrey are up to
- Maine – watch Rachel and Steve
- Dyfi Osprey Project, Wales – Glesni and Monty have returned from Africa
- Lock Garten, Scotland
- Estonia
- Finland
