Lesson 8 - Nest Watch

©The Raptor Center State Goals for Environmental Education (as per the Minnesota State Plan for Environmental Education, Greenprint, 1993)

Students will:

1. Understand ecological systems.
2. Provide experiences to assist citizens to increase their sensitivity and stewardship for the environment.
3. Provide the information citizens need to make informed decisions about actions to take on environmental issues.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

1. Describe the nests of three common birds.
2. Build a specific type of bird nest, using the same materials a bird would use.
3. Build a nest platform to attract a nesting pair of osprey.
4. Observe, record, and submit data on nesting osprey in Minnesota to The Raptor Center.

Vocabulary Words

• adaptation
• artificial
• fledging
• habitat
• tropical
• temperate

Materials

• National Wildlife Federation House Hunting Copy Cat Page bird research books
• slips of paper
• pencils
• nesting materials
• Minnesota Non-game Wildlife Platform Materials

Background

Ospreys return to Minnesota from Central and South America to begin the nesting season anytime between the third week in March and the first week in May. They are quite conspicuous; once you learn to recognize them, you'll see them fairly often while driving around our state's abundant lakes. Ospreys are a black and white bird of prey with a black eye stripe, often seen hovering above the water looking for a meal of fish. Their wings look slightly different than most hawks, they have "elbows." This is often a tell tale sign.

Hovering Osprey

The osprey nest can be found on the ground or even up to 60 feet high on live trees, dead trees, utility poles, duck blinds, fishing shacks, storage tanks, aerials, cranes, power line transmission towers, billboards, chimneys, windmills, fences, channel buoys, and even on artificial platforms built by humans. Most nests vary in size, between one foot wide and up to ten feet wide, with the exterior composed of small and large sticks and an inside lining constructed of inner bark, sod, grasses, vines, and many other items that the osprey are able to carry away from the ground. Large nests may reach up to 400 lbs., and are often used in successive years! Noted author, John Steinbeck, and others have even noted the strange and interesting items found in the interior of these large nests.

Anatomy of an Osprey Nest

The building of a nest, for any bird, is quite a task. Some birds adapt and build their nest anywhere and with anything they find. Other birds are less adaptable and build nests only in specific places, using specific materials. Generally, bird nests can be in trees, on the ground, plastered to a wall, or even floating on water! Think of all the different types of nests and where you can find them. Ospreys are somewhat tolerant of people and often nest in areas with human activity. They are quite adaptable in nest site location, so long as it meets certain needs. These needs include an open sky above the nest, a 360 degree view, close proximity (3 - 5 km.) to water with a food source, and the availability of nesting material. (Researchers would probably add many more factors and requirements to this list of osprey nesting needs, but for our purposes, this general list is sufficiently accurate and complete.) It is also important to understand that all animals prefer to be in proximity with other animals of like kind, so one can not put up a nesting platform in an area where the osprey population is low and expect to attract a nesting pair. Ospreys have to be already nesting in the area in order to attract them to an artificial nesting platform.

People who wish to attract a nesting pair of osprey to an artificial platform should consult with biologists in their area who work for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, or other similar organizations. Listed below are the contact names for each Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Non-Game Wildlife Program regional office and phone number. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (Department of the Interior) has a Web site for more general information and manages several refuges in Minnesota. Phone numbers for those refuges and a link to the Web site are also listed below.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Non-Game Wildlife Program 

General Information - 612-297-4966

Northwest Region, Katie Haws - 218-755-2976

Northeast Region, Jack Monty - 218-327-4421

Central Region, Pam Perry - 218-828-2228

Southwest Region, John Schladweiler - 507-354-2196

Southeast Region, Bonnie Erpelding - 507-285-7435

Metro Region, Joan Galli - 612-297-4966

United States Fish and Wildlife Service (Department of the Interior)

Regional Office - General Information - 612-725-3502

Migratory Bird Office - 612-725-3313

Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge - 218-449-4115

Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge - 612-839-3700

Crane Meadows National Wildlife Refuge - 612-632-1575

Hamden Slough National Wildlife Refuge - 218-439-6319

Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge - 612-335-2299

Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge - 218-768-2402

Rydell National Wildlife Refuge - 218-687-2229

Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge - 612-389-3323

Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge - 218-847-2641

**Please note: If your school or family erects a platform, there is no guarantee that you will attract a nesting pair of osprey.****

The activities are designed to be done in progression. The first activity discusses the idea of home, the second activity explores bird nests in general, and the third is a comprehensive plan to construct an osprey nesting platform.

Activity

1. Discuss the idea of a home. Have your students lived in one home all their life? How many have moved? Do any students vacation in a specific place each summer? Do birds live in specific places in the forest just like people do? [In general, yes.] Why might birds choose specific places in the forest or specific types of forest? [Adaptations enable birds to live in certain habitats. If that habitat is damaged or disappears, then birds must compete for resources in new habitats where other birds already have the advantages.]

2. There are many different designs for constructing an osprey platform. We recommend the use of the Minnesota Non-Game Wildlife Program's Design. If it is possible to "offset" the platform on the pole, please do so. This will aid biologists who may wish to band birds for scientific study. (To "offset" the platform on the pole, simply do not install lag screws from the center of the platform into the pole. Install lag screws closer to one of the sides of the platform. This will also require the metal strapping to be custom cut, slightly different from the design plans provided, but easy to do.)

We recommend that you try to defray costs by contacting local lumber yards about donations and contact your local power company about cost share programs and/or assistance in erecting an old utility pole. (These companies are very cooperative.) It is easy to ask a utility company to bring a pole to the school yard, then return when the platform is attached and the pole is ready for installation into the ground. Most lumber yards and power companies are eager to get involved for the publicity. Whoever helps you, it is important to take pictures and write a short article for the local paper to assist them with publicity.

Minnesota Non-Game Wildlife Program's Osprey Platform

3. Whether or not you choose to build a nesting platform, a great exercise in nature observation is to watch a nest and complete a survey form about the activities found at that particular nest site. Please remember to keep your distance from the nest and use binoculars and or a spotting scope to observe. You would not want your class activity to jepordize the successful hatching of the eggs. It is also illegal to disturb migratory bird nests!

Osprey Nest Survey Form Directions
Osprey Nest Survey Form

Discussion

1. Discuss why birds prefer specific habitats. What do birds obtain from specific habitats? For instance, the osprey lives near water and feeds mainly on fish. Why might it need to live 3 - 5 km. from a water source? [It would burn up lots of energy if it lived further than 5 km. from water and it would not be worth it to fly that far for a meal. There may be exceptions to this, but this is generally true.]

2. Discuss why certain birds migrate between tropical and temperate habitats, while others live year round in these places. Why do birds leave North American habitats in the fall? [They leave because of cold weather, lack of insects and fruit or a combination of these reasons.] Why do they leave the tropics in the spring? [They need territory with abundant food for nesting and longer days to find food.]

3. Discuss the important factors that biologists need to know about nesting ospreys, such as date of arrival at the nest, egg laying dates, number of young in the nest, number of young fledged, and date of fledging. Why would this information be important? [All of this information is important over a long period of study to determine the life cycle and habits of osprey.]

Extensions

1. One of the reasons that ospreys have difficulty finding suitable nesting trees is because of the lack of "super canopy trees." Super canopy trees are those very large trees that "poke above" most trees in the forest. Do you think that increased cabin construction on our lakes and rivers has had an impact on the decline of these super canopy trees? Chose a position and defend it

.2. Construct another wildlife home from the book "Woodworking for Wildlife." Erect this second home and keep a record of activity. Compare the time of arrival at the nest, the number of adults, etc. with your osprey platform. Are there similarities? Are there differences?

Book Resources

A Field Guide to Birds of Eastern and Central North America, Roger Tory Peterson, Haughton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1980

Ospreys: Their Natural and Unnatural History, Alan F. Poole Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 1989

Encyclopedia of North American Birds, John K. Terres, North American Audubon Society, Alfred Knopf et al.

The Life of Birds, Joe Carl Welty, CBS College Press, Philadelphia, PA, Third Edition,1982