Osprey Nest Tragedy

7/22/2017

You may have noticed that the last 48 hours our Osprey Cam has been down. We have had a bit of a tragedy hit our Duke and Duchess, and also the family here at Snappy's. July 21, 2017 - Friday afternoon we were made aware of a chick that did not appear healthy in our nest and concerns were expressed about how to handle what we were watching unfold.

As you know Snappy's has no ownership of these magnificent birds, but has enjoyed the pleasure of providing a home in our courtyard. These are wild animals, and as such, we have tried to keep our involvement to a minimum. We have enjoyed watching the natural process evolve now for a second year, but this was a bit much to just leave alone.

One of our three chicks was indeed having a difficult time, and things looked grim. As we were talking with Doug MacCarter about how to proceed, the poor chick perished. At this point, we made the decisions to suspend the live broadcast of our video stream. With the advice of Doug, we arranged to have a bucket truck brought in so that the chick could be removed from the nest.

Doug and his comrades could only speculate on the cause of the death, but were keen to see if any more could be learned by examining the remains. In Missoula, there have been problems with high levels of mercury found in the birds that are causing health issues. They want to make sure that our birds in the Flathead Valley are not struggling with the same problem. We were able to remove the remains today.

At first glance there was no external cause, like strangulation from bailing twine or a fishing hook caught in the chicks throat. It appeared this chick was malnourished. When the chicks are small the parents will feed them one at a time ensuring all chicks get enough food. As the chicks grow, the parents will drop a fish in the nest and let the chicks feed themselves. It is a learning process for the chicks, but unfortunately sometimes one chick is bullied out of food. It appears this is what has happened.

As we hear more and if there is a different cause found, we will be sure to post an update. However, it appears we have witnessed the "survival of the fittest" as difficult as it is to watch. We will continue with the Naming Contest for all three birds, and give our expired chick a name when the voting is finished. We have enjoyed watching all three of our birds now for almost 2 months. And the Snappy's family wishes Duke, Duchess, and the other two chicks all the best!

CAUTION: Images and Video of the chick are posted below....

25 Comments

Cindy

7/22/2017 09:42:43 pm

I am devastated by the loss of one of the chicks. I've been watching them almost everyday. One thing I noticed last week though. I have seen them bring fresh fish but this one day I noticed an ornamental fish. A Koi? It was bright orange and the chicks were feeding on it. I don't know if that will help determine the cause of death but thought I would share what I saw. Thank you Snappy's and B J for giving us all this gift to watch these amazing birds. Although there is tragedey it's part of nature. Glad you all helped retrieve this chick without disturbing the nest.

Jon - Snappy's

7/22/2017 10:02:58 pm

Cindy
Thank you for you kind words. This is part of natural process. We are very happy you have enjoyed the camera and it's our pleasure to open this up for the community to watch. As for the ornimental fish it is actually an albino rainbow trout. We have about 300 in our pond. The hatcheries cannot release them in the wild as they would be easy prey. So we get them. Good eyes. Thanks again for your kind words.

Scott

7/23/2017 08:26:04 am

I too have enjoyed watching and it was in fact my mother that called and said "one of the chicks died and they turned off the camera". It is part of nature. I don't quite understand that albino fish are "easy prey if released" but are they not easy prey in your pond? Just curious as to that logic. Snappy's is now my go to sporting goods store in large part due to my enjoyment of the camera!

Cindy

7/23/2017 03:02:47 pm

Hi Jon. I had no idea that the albino were that color. Thank you for educating me on what is in Snappy's pond. It looks like the other two chicks are doing good. Is it normal for them to work on removing pieces from the nest? I've noticed that as well the last few days. And the parents bringing more sticks to reinforce the nest. When will they take their first flight? Thank you!

Jon - Snappy's

7/24/2017 09:58:52 am

Cindy,
You are welcome. The albino fish are very unique. It is great the Arlee hatchery has brought them up for us. The other two chicks do indeed appear healthy and well. We are expecting them to take flight in the next couple weeks. Looking forward to seeing them fully fledge.

Susan Botelho

7/23/2017 06:27:52 am

Sad,sad news. I must say, Mom has been so fantastic with these chicks, however, Dad spends a lot of time on the side, preening. Just sayin......

Rose Cutrone

7/23/2017 07:18:22 am

I never anticipated that my pure joy of observing these magnificant birds in their habitat could also bring me such sorrow. Several days ago, I noticed one baby appeared weak/lethargic & I watched with much concern as it was scooching itself backwards. Knowing we are merely observers, I ended my watching out of fear it was going to back itself out of the nest. I've been reluctant to check in and now I know why. My heart is saddened, but I must accept all of nature even this sad event. Thank you so much for keeping us informed. How did Duke and Dutchess handle Doug removing one of their babies even if it had passed?

Jon - Snappy's

7/23/2017 09:44:31 am

Rose, it is a bit sad. Duke and Duchess were not to keen on people around the nest. Doug was harassed a bit. Dive bomber and screeched at. Both parents flew circles around trying to get him away.

Rose Cutrone

7/23/2017 06:47:31 pm

Thank you so much for Doug!! And Snappys!

Susan Botelho

7/23/2017 08:25:41 am

Please know how much I appreciate this cam and your providing it for us. These birds are so beautiful, it is heartbreaking to think of one dying in such a manner. I watch eagle cams as well, and was one of the original members of Dad Norfolk. We watched those two eagles in their nest for a couple of years. They would be so involved with the feeding of their chicks, even after the chicks had fledged, the parents would take a fish to them on the outer branches of the tree. I suppose it is just, 'the circle of life'. Thank You again, so much for providing us with this opportunity!

Jon - Snappy's

7/23/2017 09:46:38 am

Susan,
It is our pleasure to be able to provide this opportunity. Along with all the good comes a bit of sad. But as we know life goes on. Thank you for watching and sharing your kind words with us.

Barbara

7/23/2017 08:50:36 am

This is a very sad development. My husband and I are in Kalispell for only a week but had heard about the osprey camera and watched for a couple of days. We noticed that one of the young birds was moving much less than the other two and, having read David Gessner's wonderful book Return of the Ospreys in which he described the bullying and ultimate death of the smallest of three chicks in a nest, wondered if the same thing was happening here. It appeared it was. It has been very exciting for me to watch the birds having read the above book (which I can strongly recommend) but never lived where ospreys live. It's a wonderful service you provide. Thank you! I hope the camera is back on soon.

Jon - Snappy's

7/23/2017 09:54:35 am

Barbara,
The camera is indeed back up. I'm glad you have been able to enjoy it while you've been in town. Certainly we have seen nature's drive to let the fittest survive first hand. Even as difficult and uncomfortable as it has been.

Rose Cutrone

7/23/2017 09:31:57 am

If i had shared my observations days ago, could Doug have even intervened before the chick passed? Or would that have opened a new set of conversations of whether you should interfere with mother nature?

Jon - Snappy's

7/23/2017 09:59:02 am

Rose,
I honestly don't know if knowing any sooner would have changed anything. These birds are wild and as such isn't Snappy's place to intervene. Would someone have intervened if these birds were not under a watchful eye? Sometimes accepting nature's methods goes against our human instinct of kidness and assistance. Short answer is I just don't know.

Rose Cutrone

7/23/2017 06:41:47 pm

Thank you, I agree with everything you said. I guess my human nature is trying to understand what could have been different, but I also agree that this is their animal instinct & we humans can't fix everything!

Jill link

7/23/2017 11:28:18 am

It was wonderful of you to remove the dear one's body. The chick had grown too large for the parents to dispose of it, & its remains (*sigh*) would've attracted disease & more death. I've studied ospreys for 6 years & witnessing that, as well as the siblicide that caused it, is painful. I love watching your site & was heartbroken at the tragedy, as were so many. Siblicide is terrible, but it's good you didn't intervene (besides it being illegal to) since it's nature at work. I mentioned the tragedy in the updates area on the link to your site on the links page of my osprey website. Keep up the wonderful work!

Rose Cutrone

7/23/2017 06:46:20 pm

Thank you Jill for your informative comments. My human nature hurts cause it caught me off guard, but I will grieve & find excitement observing these last week's of their development.

Steve

7/23/2017 07:59:54 pm

Jon ->

Thanks for the update on the death of the chick. Some time ago, I saw a YouTube video of a barn owl snatching an osprey chick from its nest. Nature has its ways and sometimes it's sad.

We had a fawn "stash" itself at our house twice this summer, once in late June, then a few days later in early July. We didn't interfere with this process, even though we have foxes in the area. Fortunately, the foxes did not find the fawn. We saw it just yesterday (July 22nd), and it's growing more and more every day.

Scott

7/25/2017 06:27:40 am

Duchess may have learned something from the loss. This morning at 06:20, she was in the nest with a nice sized orange albino, picking it about and hand (beak) feeding each chick, not letting them feed themselves.

Cindy

7/25/2017 09:47:34 pm

It's great to see the family of Osprey's doing better. Scott, I noticed tonight the same thing as you did early this morning. Dutchess is feeding both of them. It may have been hard for the parents to care for three and topping that off with some bullying by the other chicks which may explain why tragedy happened. Like the Luptons have reiterated it's the survival of the fittest. We can thank them for their help removing the chick that didn't survive. I can see their goal was not to interrupt nature but I believe they made the right choice in removing the non surviving chick. A couple of days ago I thought Dutchess may be in trouble. Thank goodness my suspicions were wrong. Thank you Jon for emailing me and letting me know she was ok! I look forward to seeing the surviving chicks thrive and fly! Thank you for this opportunity to watch these amazing birds and their family!

Susan Botelho

8/2/2017 09:01:32 am

Is it just me? it seems now that of the two remaining siblings, one seems very hesitant to fledge, and his brother keeps stealing the fish that Mom brings to the nest. Grr. Just praying that this smaller guy survives.

Jon - Snappy's

8/2/2017 09:18:13 am

Susan,
We have seen both chicks flying with the parents. So they both have been out of the nest. Hoping that even though mom and dad are still bringing fish, they are honing their own fishing skills. This year has been difficult for osprey all around the state. Would love to have a successful journey for both of our chicks.

Susan Botelho

8/2/2017 06:17:37 pm

Thank You Jon, you have relieved my fears! Wonder why the Osprey area? I just read an article that in our area, Aquidneck Island, Rhode Island, there has been a record number of fledges. The thought is that food is plentiful... I guess we all go through cycles. Thank YOU so much, for sharing this web cam with all of us!!! Beef up your on-line women's store, I'd love to be a customer!!!
Susan

Cindy

8/3/2017 10:02:37 pm

It's been wonderful to watch the two chicks grow and fly! I have them online in the morning before work and find myself looking for them on my way to work. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity to watch these amazing birds. I also love seeing them as well as Eagles and Hawks on the river. Amazing.

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Osprey Nest Tragedy

CAUTION: Images and Video of the chick are posted below....

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