Ospreys are spectacular fish-hunting raptors that undertake remarkable long-distance migrations. After near-extinction in Britain, their recovery is a conservation success story — but individual welfare challenges from migration hazards, pollution, and nest disturbance remain significant.
Osprey welfare across the annual cycle encompasses breeding season hazards, the physical demands of long-distance migration, and winter territory establishment in Africa. Individual birds tracked by GPS reveal that migration is genuinely dangerous: birds crossing the Sahara and the Sahel face dehydration, starvation from prey unavailability, and hunting pressure in some countries. Young birds on their first migration have higher mortality than experienced adults, and birds that arrive at breeding territories in poor condition after difficult migrations have reduced breeding success. Nest disturbance — by birdwatchers approaching too closely, by tree felling near active nests, and by agricultural operations — causes nest abandonment at critical incubation stages. Fishing line entanglement occurs when ospreys attempt to extract fish caught on lines, sometimes becoming fatally hooked themselves or drowned by the weight of line and sinker.