Status of the Osprey in Everglades National Park
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Material Information

Title:
Status of the Osprey in Everglades National Park Report M-679
Creator:
South Florida Natural Resources Center/South Florida Research Center, Everglades National Park
Oron L. Bass, Jr.
James A. Kushlan
Place of Publication:
Homestead
Florida
Publisher:
National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior
Publication Date:

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Osprey
Habitat
Everglades National Park (Fla.)

Notes

Abstract:
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) populations in various parts of North America decreased during the 1950's and 19601s, primarily because of pesticide contamination, with eastern populations being most affected (Henny and Ogden 1970). These populations are migratory and winter in the West Indies and in Central and South America (Zarn 1974). The Florida population, considered to be non-migratory by Ogden (1978), contained low levels of pesticide contaminates. The major cause of localized population decreases that have taken place in the state has been destruction of habitat (Ogden 1978). These ospreys nest throughout Florida, but nesting birds are less common in northwestern Florida and rare around the Gulf of Mexico (Ogden 1978). Nesting near bodies of water such as lakes, rivers, and coastal areas, reeding ospreys are particularly common along the St. Johns River, in Ocala National Forest and in Everglades National Park. The status of a major segment of the latter population was documented between 1968 and 1974 by Ogden (1975, 1977). He conducted aerial surveys in Florida Bay in the late 1960's and early 1970's and measured nesting effort and productivity on three islands. He concluded that the Florida Bay osprey population was stable (Henny and Ogden 1970) and, on the three study islands, that the number of ospreys and percentage of successful nests remained approximately constant over five years (Ogden 1977). The stated purpose of the previous study was to provide a base line for monitoring the status of the osprey population in Florida Bay and by extension the ecological well-being of the Florida Bay ecosystem (Ogden 1977). Ten years after the initiation of that study, we began a three-year study of population status to determine whether population changes had occurred in the interim. Concurrently Poole (in prep.) restudied productivity on the same three islands on which Ogden did his work. In this paper we analyze the nesting population of osprey in southern Florida during the breeding seasons of 1978-1980 and compare our findings to those of the previous study. We conclude from this analysis that a substantial decrease has occurred in the number of ospreys nesting in Florida Bay. ( English )
Issuing Body:
SuDoc number: I 29.95: M-679

Record Information

Source Institution:
Florida International University
Holding Location:
South Florida Natural Resource Center
Rights Management:
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