Osprey carrying a large adult menhaden. Long Beach Island. August 14, 2016. Photo by Jim Verhagen.
Over the past twenty years, I’ve had the privilege of watching New Jersey’s osprey population more than double—from roughly 400 nesting pairs to over 800. While our work to protect and expand nesting habitat has played a role in their comeback, the true foundation of their recovery has been a healthy marine ecosystem and an abundance of prey.
A six week old osprey nestling, emaciated with no adults present, stands next to its dead sibling (two fish left at nest during nest check). July 25.
Since my last post on June 25, where I said this year was shaping up to be a “terrible one” for ospreys in New Jersey has held true. Since then I’ve watched as nestlings are abandoned and left to starve by their parents and die from starvation via live streaming cameras. It is heartbreaking. We’re seeing nest failure rates higher than they have ever been in most coastal colonies. Even worse, many others monitoring ospreys in surrounding states are reporting similar outcomes. Atlantic menhaden—typically a staple in the osprey’s diet—are far less abundant this season.
A hatchling osprey with two unhatched eggs. June 13, 2025.
This year is shaping up to be a terrible one for ospreys in New Jersey. Early season surveys, which we began to conduct more of in recent years, after nor’easters and shortages of prey caused nesting pairs fail to produce young. These early surveys provide valuable data on the outcomes of nests and insight on nest failures.
This spring and early summer, we have observed a high number of nest failures in an area around Long Beach Island on Barnegat Bay. This has also been observed directly through live streaming osprey cams from Cape May to Oceanville and reported by some of our dedicated volunteers in other areas. Right now all signs point to lack of food, which either caused adults to abandon incubation or starvation of their young.
A crucial prey item for ospreys is Atlantic menhaden, a forage fish that is found in the ocean and estuaries. They are found all along the Atlantic coast and are widely considered to be the most important fish in the sea. Not only are they filter feeders but they are food for a very wide variety of wildlife, from humpback whales and dolphins to ospreys, loons, tuna and striped bass, etc. They are also a very valuable fish that is used as whole bait, meal (solids, mainly for use in aquaculture as food for farm raised fish) and oils. In 2016, over 323 million pounds of menhaden was landed in Virginia alone. In coastal Virginia, osprey populations have collapsed and the likely culprit is lack of prey.
This spring adult menhaden were not very plentiful, especially after a nor’easter impacted the coast in late May. Observations of ospreys showed some were still catching menhaden but much smaller fish. Since then it has been a cascading effect of adult male ospreys not being able to find enough food to feed their mates and their young. When they can’t find food, they spend more time and energy searching and hunting and less time at their nests, leaving their mates to do more incubation and often times starving. This is when incubating females have to leave their nests and then their eggs or young are exposed to predators or harsh environmental conditions like extreme heat, which results in nest failure. There are still plenty of fish available to ospreys but fewer adult menhaden, which ospreys are more dependent upon, especially during this time of year when they are foraging more frequently to provide for their families. As a bioindicator species, ospreys showing us the shortage of menhaden in real time through the lens of their failed reproduction.
We hope learn the full extent of food stress on ospreys this year during upcoming nest surveys. For those who watch a nest or have a pair that nest near your home, you are encouraged to report osprey nesting activity online, via Osprey Watch. Since ospreys were recently upgraded to stable as their conservation status, we are concerned about their long term stability in a rapidly changing world. Your support to help us monitor ospreys during this time is crucial, as we do not receive any state or federal funding to carry out this important fieldwork.
Exciting news for osprey watchers—Duke has returned! This morning, the longtime male of our Barnegat Light Osprey Cam returned to his home on Long Beach Island after an incredible journey south for the winter. After months of migration, crossing thousands of miles between New Jersey and the tropics, Duke is back to reclaim his territory. But this year, there’s a twist—a new female is waiting for him!
His previous mate, Daisy, has not yet been spotted, and while we don’t know much about this new female (since she’s unbanded), we’ll be closely observing her iris and feather patterns to track her identity. Today, Duke wasted no time settling in—he was seen feeding on his perch, interacting with the newcomer, and lounging in the nest bowl (classic Duke). If Daisy doesn’t return, he will likely form a new pair bond with this female, marking a fresh chapter in his long and successful life.
Ospreys are migrating north and will soon begin another nesting season in New Jersey. Earlier this year, their conservation status was upgraded from threatened to stable by NJDEP. This marks a tremendous success in the restoration of ospreys, management of their nesting structures, and vast improvements in the health of our aquatic ecosystems, and the efforts of many devoted environmental professionals and osprey lovers throughout the state. Results from 2024, show that ospreys had favorable conditions for their continued growth and success.
To track the health of the osprey population, each year project staff, volunteers, and citizen scientists collect data on nest occupancy and nest success. Most colonies are surveyed by devoted volunteers who use a ladder to access a nest and determine the outcome. Others are surveyed from a distance using optics or other visual aides, including digital cameras and unmanned aerial systems. Citizen scientists, who contribute observations of nest activity online through www.osprey-watch.org play a crucial role in determining the overall size and health of the state population, as many document nest success in areas where previous nest surveys were not conducted. Moving forward, theses passionate volunteers will play a more important role in monitoring ospreys and their continued success.
Three natural osprey nests within Sedge Island WMA. July 2024.
Overall, results from our surveys recorded a total of 729 nests that were occupied. The majority of nests monitored had increased productivity, which is a stark contrast from what was observed in 2022 and 2023, when most colonies had decreased productivity. This highlights how severe weather, specifically nor’easters, can affect the overall productivity of coastal nesting ospreys, where most osprey nests are located in New Jersey. With no severe weather, the average statewide productivity was normal at 1.63 young/active [known outcome] nest.
As reported last year, observations of adult females not laying eggs at prompted us to conduct some early season surveys in some colonies. A survey that we conducted on Barnegat Bay revealed that 40% of the nests surveys had no eggs or young, which normally had young in previous years. Similar findings were reported in the Great Egg Harbor colony and also in areas of the Chesapeake Bay, which is even more alarming. We still don’t know what caused the reduction in egg-laying females and delayed incubation. More investigation and future monitoring is warranted.
In general, ospreys had a productive season, with the outcome being determined in 73% of the nests surveyed in 2024. Those pairs (533) produced a total of 867 young. A total of 101 (12%) nestlings were banded for future tracking, 35 of which with both federal and red auxiliary, field readable bands at nests on Barnegat Bay. 89 nests were determined to have failed to produce young. This means they either had eggs or nestlings and they were lost.
Osprey 26/H, a seven year old male nesting at Sedge Island WMA. July 2024.
Osprey Band Recoveries
Each year a small portion of young ospreys are banded with federal bird bands for future tracking. Encounters with banded birds is infrequent, unless they are found injured or dead, mainly because the bands are very difficult to read on live birds. With Project RedBand, an osprey banding and re-sighting project on Barnegat Bay, we have seen more encounters with live ospreys than those that are injured/dead. This is a direct result of banding birds with red “field readable” auxiliary bands, which can be read from a distance using a spotting scope or a telephoto lens on a digital camera. In 2024, 41 ospreys that were banded as nestlings were encountered. Of those, 30 were identified by their red bands, most during nest surveys conducted by CWF staff. Obtaining re-sightings of red banded ospreys helps track individual birds as they return to New Jersey to nest as adults. We can learn a lot about their life history while engaging the public in osprey conservation. Thank you to everyone who has reported red banded ospreys that they have observed!
With ospreys being listed as stable, it means they’re not at risk of becoming threatened or endangered in the near future. It does not mean we should just forget about them or walk away. Our continued efforts to monitor ospreys will help track their health and any impacts from threats like plastic marine debris to the loss of vital prey, like menhaden shifting northward from the effects of climate change. We have to continue to maintain their nest structures, which the majority of ospreys rely on to successfully reproduce.
Thankfully we have a growing group of volunteer “osprey watchers” who will help keep tabs on them in the future. As one of the largest birds of prey that nests in very close proximity to humans, especially on our heavily developed coast, creating a connection between ospreys and people is resilience. The ability to adapt to a changing landscape is crucial to our shared prosperity in this region. We must protect our open space and habitats that wildlife depend on to survival, while also allowing our human way of life to move forward.
Special thanks to everyone who donates to support our work with ospreys and to all our volunteers who help maintain their nest structures and monitor nest activity throughout the state!
Banding and re-sighting birds is such a rewarding experience. You never know where and when a bird that you banded will show up and what you will learn from that encounter. Banding is a method for biologists to track migratory birds and gain valuable information about them through band re-sightings or encounters. Each year, around 10-20% of young ospreys that are documented during nest surveys in New Jersey are banded with USGS bird bands for future tracking. On Barnegat Bay, through Project RedBand, young ospreys are also banded with red auxiliary, or “field readable” bands. Since 2014, over 600 red bands have been deployed and in recent years we have had more re-sightings of birds that are alive as opposed to those that were found dead. In 2024, we identified 30 ospreys in New Jersey by their red bands.
In a landmark decision, the bald eagle and osprey have been removed from New Jersey’s endangered species list. This remarkable achievement is the result of decades of dedicated conservation efforts and collaboration between government agencies, environmental organizations like Conserve Wildlife Foundation, and the public. The recovery of these iconic birds demonstrates the power of focused conservation initiatives and habitat protection.
The bald eagle, once on the brink of extinction due to DDT use and habitat loss, has made an incredible comeback in New Jersey. From a single nesting pair in the 1970s, the state now boasts 293 nesting pairs. Similarly, ospreys have rebounded from just 50 nests in the 1970s to more than 800 today.
These success stories highlight the effectiveness of long-term conservation strategies, including habitat restoration, nest protection, and public education. They serve as inspiration for future conservation efforts and remind us of the positive impact we can have when we work together to protect our natural heritage.
Partnerships were crucial in the early days of ospreys being listed as endangered in New Jersey in the early 1970s. From public utility companies installing tall nest platforms on coastal saltmarshes to non-profit organizations purchasing land for preservation. Today, they are still the life blood of osprey conservation, fifty years later. One partnership that has been brewing, quite literally, over the past several months was a collaboration and beer from Twin Elephant Brewing Company. They had this small batch beer called: The Osprey and they wanted it to help make a difference for the namesake of the beer, so they decided to partner with Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ to support our osprey conservation efforts. Continue reading “Brewing Partnerships: The Osprey”
I never imagined the rewarding experience of observing adult ospreys that I banded as nestlings. Over the past decade, I have banded six hundred and twelve ospreys with field readable red auxiliary bands. These birds originated from nests throughout the Barnegat Bay watershed, from Point Pleasant to Little Egg Harbor. This year, 29 red banded ospreys were re-sighted along the coast of New Jersey.
An active osprey nest with two live and one dead nestling on the Mullica River. June 2024.
As juvenile ospreys fledge and adult females begin their southbound migration, work to summarize data from this year is ongoing. So far, it doesn’t look like a terrible year but not a great one either. Food stress (or brood reduction) was still apparent within some coastal nest colonies, despite the lack of severe weather (nor’easters/microbursts, etc) which could affect the ability of adult males to find and catch prey.
