SCCF is proud to continue the legacy of The International Osprey Foundation by monitoring and protecting ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) and their habitats. This program carries on decades of osprey nest monitoring, habitat restoration, and public education to ensure ospreys thrive in Southwest Florida and beyond.
Osprey nesting season occurs from December through late spring to early summer.
If you come across sick, injured, or fallen ospreys, please call our osprey hotline at 919-8-Osprey (919-867-7739). Your call could save a life!
What We Do
Monitor Nests
We monitor over 200 osprey nests throughout the region to track population health and reproductive success, submitting data to a global database, OspreyWatch.
Volunteer & Community Engagement
We engage volunteers and the community in hands-on stewardship, and educate the public about ospreys and their role in local ecosystems.
Nesting Platforms
We maintain and install accessible, elevated nesting sites in ideal habitat locations.
Osprey Facts
- Ospreys have a white underside and head, brown upper body, dark eye stripe and a wingspan of up to 5 to 6 feet
- They are skilled hunters that dive feet-first to catch fish, including catfish, mullet, spotted trout, shad, and sunfish
- Ospreys live near shallow waters like lakes, rivers, marshes, and coastal areas with abundant fish
- They are a considered a "sentinel species." Because an osprey's diet is as high as 99% fish, monitoring their populations can help us detect changes in water quality
- Ospreys create nests with large sticks in trees, on utility poles, or manmade platforms. Like bald eagles, their nests are often reused year after year
- Females lay 1 to 4 eggs per clutch, which are incubated for over a month. Nestlings fledge within two months
Threats to Ospreys
- Contaminants: Mercury and other pollutants in waterways affect reproduction and health
- Habitat loss: Shoreline development and degraded water quality reduce nesting and feeding areas
- Predation & disturbance: Humans, non-human predators, and other disruptions can harm nests and young
- Entanglement: Adults increasingly incorporate baling twine and other discarded plastic lines into their nests. These materials can wrap around a chick's feet and injure it, or keep it from fledging
How You Can Help Ospreys
- Protect nests from disturbance. Watch or photograph from a distance and report threats to sccfospreys@gmail.com
- Support habitat conservation and healthy water quality initiatives to ensure healthy fishing grounds
- Reduce pollution. Keep waterways clean of fishing line, plastics, and other debris that can injure or entangle ospreys and their prey
- Volunteers are trained for nest monitoring. This season is full, but a call for volunteers will be put out next nesting season.
- Learn how to rescue a sick, injured, or baby raptor
- Make a donation to support our program
