Hi guys,
This is my month of May's contribution to this forum:
Ounce for ounce, I think the Osprey is the most powerful raptor in North America, if not the world.... arguably of course.
The following series demonstrates how the Osprey lifting a fair size fish out of the water....with one foot only !!!
By comparison, the bald eagle is not strong enough even to lift itself out of the water. And we all know how an object weights a lot heavier if we tried to lift it out from underneath the water in a hurry, never mind a struggling fish which tries to dive down at the same time !!!
And BTW, I cannot recall any other species that dive with their feet first, submerge under water and power lifting preys with their feet....can you think of any
(All images captured at Viera Wetland of Florida a while back.)
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1. The Dive:
2.Initially, the struggling fish is taking this Osprey all over the place. At this time the only thing that the Osprey can do is to keep flapping its wings to keep it's head above the waterline.....
3.When he felt that the fish finally got tired, the Osprey align itself against the wind for better lift just like an aeroplane pilot would do..
4.The Power Lift:
5.He is flapping his wings rapidly, This moment is critical, I have seen them releasing their large prey when they sensed that they could not handle the weight at this point of time. (Original image contains the whole bird, I cropped this closer for a better look at his eyes and the fish.)
6. He is gaining speed and altitude at the same time....
