Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

Osprey [ventral view of adult]: Photograph Credit: Rickey Shive; Barren River Dam, Barren/Allen Counties, Kentucky; 4 August 2018.

Abundance: Uncommon during spring and fall migrations; Very Uncommon during summer; Rare during winter; recorded in 23 Regional counties, 9 in Kentucky (no record for Clinton County—as of December 2011) and 14 in Tennessee (no records for Fentress and Macon counties—as of December 2011) (Map of UCR Distribution); data from the Regional bird-monitoring efforts are too few to determine a trend in the populations breeding in or migrating through the Region (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Summer Resident.

Regional High Count: 14 [9 adults and 5 young] (19 June 2009; Jackson County, Tennessee; Nancy S. Layzer); SBC/SBB High Count: 9 [all adults] (26 April 2008; Jackson County [SBB], Tennessee; m. ob.); FBC/FBB High Count: 5 (18 September 2004 and 16 September 2006; Putnam County [FBC], Tennessee; m. ob.).

Out-of-Season (Winter) Records:

22 December 1986 (1) Pickett County [CBC], Tennessee (R. David and Robbie C. Hassler).

30 December 1988 (1) Pickett County [CBC], Tennessee (R. David and Robbie C. Hassler).

30 December 1999 (1) Pickett County [CBC], Tennessee (R. David and Robbie C. Hassler).

Regional Extreme Dates:

    Early Spring: 27 February 2017 (Jackson County, Tennessee; Stephen J. Stedman).

    Late Fall: 9 December 2002 (Barren County, Kentucky; David L. Roemer), but see also Out-of-Season Records.

    Note: Regional dates of earliest reported spring arrival and latest reported fall departure for 2002–2011 follow:

Breeding: Confirmed (Recent). At least 6 nest sites currently (2011) verified in Jackson County, Tennessee, as well as 2 in Smith County, Tennessee; used nest found during early spring 2001 at a site in Morgan County, Tennessee, where strongly suspected to breed in previous years.

Habitat:  Forages over bodies of medium-sized and large-sized bodies of water; almost invariably found near large bodies of water during the breeding season.

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: Registered on 2 (of 125 possible) monthly check-lists during 2003 and on 1 (of 206 possible) check-list during 2004, leading to a YardWatch frequency classification of Rare; Osprey were considerably less frequently encountered during YardWatch efforts than during other kinds of efforts in the Region as a whole.

Foray Results: A summary of data from UCR Forays follows (to view a map displaying foray data for a county or a sub-Region for this species, click on the name of an underlined county or state below):

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the counties of each portion of the Region; similarly, because some blocks fall into both states, the total of blocks for the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the two states.

Remarks: The early spring arrival dates for Osprey began to fall much earlier during the season once observers learned to check the Regional nest sites of this species beginning in late February and early March; the local nesting birds clearly return to the Region much earlier than most transients passing northward.

    Credit for the first observation of the various nests active in the Region is difficult to offer in an accurate manner, but the following individuals played an important role in bringing these to my attention even if they were not the first person to actually discover these nests: Terry M. Campbell (nests near Camp Discovery near Flynn's Creek in Jackson County, at Jackson County Fairgrounds, and near Sugar Creek east of Gainesboro in Jackson County); Nancy S. Layzer (nest at Jackson County High School); Barbara H. Stedman and Janie C. Finch (nest at Gainesboro Port Authority on Rt. 53 in Jackson County); Kathy Harville (nest at ballpark on Rt. 53 in Smith County); and Harvey Tinsley (nest on Cumberland River in western Smith County).  Nancy Layzer in particular deserves much credit for consistent monitoring of the Osprey nests in Jackson County from about 2004 to about 2012.

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited