Why Don’t Ospreys Nest in Brooklyn Bridge Park?

When I’m in Florida I get to see the magnificent Osprey (originally called a sea eagle) all the time. When I’m in Brooklyn in the area of Brooklyn Bridge Park I never see them. Brooklyn Bird Watch, which started primarily featuring only photos of birds seen in Brooklyn Bridge Park, has never featured an Osprey because they don't seem to nest in Brooklyn Bridge Park.

The well-known Jamaica Wildlife Refuge, officially located in both Brooklyn and Queens, was recently highlighted on the “Far and Wide” travel website as one of the best bird-watching locations in the United States. The Jamacia Bay Wildlife Refuge is not only a famous location for Ospreys, it is also a favorite spot for photographers to capture shore birds when they stop over on their Southbound migration. 

The Osprey is one of nature’s masterpieces of predatory design, perfect for catching fish. With a wingspan of five to six feet, muscular legs, and incredibly powerful wings, the Osprey can catch and carry fish that weigh nearly as much as it does. As the Scottish Wildlife website reminds us: “Ospreys have a transparent eyelid that covers and protects their eyes when they (sometimes) have to go underwater during a dive for a fish. […] The feet and muscular legs of an Osprey are unlike any other hawk. The thighs are covered with short dense feathers while the lower legs, feet and toes are covered with heavy scales. […] It can also grasp and carry large sticks and parts of tree limbs for its nesting material, as well as, remarkably, grab and fly off with fish from being 1m below the surface of the water. […] And the sandpaper-like texture of the scales that cover its toes gives the bird a surer grasp, resembling Velcro, to provide a firm grip on wet, slippery fish.”

The Osprey is one of the bird species well known for its tragic encounters with the environment. As Joe Giunta wrote for the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens back in 2016:
“Years ago there were as many as 1,000 Osprey pairs nesting on or near the East Coast from New York to Boston. That number dropped to about 150 during the 1960s after years of widespread DDT use. The Osprey, like other birds of prey, are vulnerable to DDT’s damaging effect on eggshells. Since the early 1970s, when DDT was banned, the population has rebounded, and now the Osprey has again become a somewhat common bird in the area.”

As the Cornell Lab of Ornithology reminds us, the Osprey is a Conservation success story. “Their numbers grew by approximately 1.9% per year from 1966 to 2019, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey–Partners in Flight estimates a global breeding population of 1.2 million and rates them 7 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score, indicating a species of low conservation concern.”

When I’m in Florida I sometimes have to drive early in the morning to Tampa (across Tampa Bay) from Clearwater, and I can always see seven or eight Ospreys perched on top of the tall streetlights that line the Howard Franklin Bridge, patiently waiting for breakfast to appear in the water about 40 or 50 feet below. Those streetlights conveniently have flat tops so the Ospreys can also use them sort of like “plates” where they often place their catch and eat it. And if they weren’t sitting there patiently waiting to spot a fish, oblivious to all the traffic down below, they would be holding a fish in place with those fantastic claws while eating the recent catch.

I also remember when I was in Florida driving in a residential area on a scenic street with a sidewalk that was only about 5 yards from the bay. Sometimes I would park the car and walk, hoping to get an interesting photo of a bird. I spotted a Northern Cardinal flying across a yard that disappeared into some thick bushes. While wondering if I could realistically get close enough for a good shot, suddenly I heard some wild screaming coming from the top of a tall pine tree next to the sidewalk. I was lucky enough to look up just in time to see it happen and unlucky enough that I couldn’t get my $300 digital camera ready in time. (As I have said, I am only a recreational birder as opposed to a “real” birder.)   

I looked up and saw, over the edge of a large Osprey nest, a pair of magnificent wings flapping, then just as suddenly a huge Osprey rose above the nest holding, not a fish, but a slightly smaller Osprey by the shoulders behind the wings with its huge talons. The larger Osprey appeared to fling the smaller Osprey out into the open air away from the nest. The smaller Osprey suddenly stopped screaming and started vigorously flapping its wings to keep from dropping to the ground and in a matter of seconds, gained its equilibrium, and continued to fly away. The larger Osprey (at this point I presumed a parent) returned to the nest and all was quiet again.

I’m still not certain what I witnessed, so this could be fantasy on my part, but what it looked like was one of the younger Ospreys of a family was either causing trouble or was being literally thrown from the nest, perhaps the parents’ way of forcing the youngster to go out and be on its own.

The reason I’m not absolutely certain that’s what was happening is because Osprey parents usually just stop bringing the youngsters food until they catch on and decide to leave home and fend for themselves. And once a young Osprey leaves the nest it doesn’t come back. Anyway, whatever was happening it was fascinating to watch.

So back to the original question: Why don’t Ospreys fish and nest near Brooklyn Bridge Park?

Not only has the question been asked before, but attempts were even made to lure the great bird to build a nest in Brooklyn Bridge Park back in 2015. Engineer and Brooklyn resident Bart Chezar built a platform that he imagined would attract an Osprey: It sits at the water’s edge at the end of the Montague Street Pier. For some reason, Ospreys have yet to build a nest there. 

We asked professional birder and bird photographer Heather Wolf why she thinks there are no Ospreys using the manmade platforms around Brooklyn Bridge Park, and she said:
“I only have informal guesses as to why there are no Ospreys using it. Maybe it’s too far up the river, too close to crowds in a crowded park, and with an elevated expressway in view. I will say I am glad they have not used it as I think it would attract too much attention for them to nest successfully, and/or peacefully.”

The only documented sightings I could find via eBird were from some of Brooklyn’s other bird-attracting landscapes like Prospect Park, and of course, the Jamacia Bay Wildlife Refuge, where lots of Ospreys nest, raise and feed their families. But why they don’t nest and hunt in that area of New York Harbor where lower Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridge Park are located, is still an unanswered question.