By Larisa Tatge 



Few action movies rival this 

 dramatic scene, coming soon to North 

 Carolina. 



A large black-and-white osprey, with 

 a wingspan stretching 6 feet, soars 

 overhead. In a crashing flurry, the bird 

 plunges into the sea, sinking its talons 

 into a struggling fish. Soaring back into 

 the air, it disappears in the distance. 



The daring osprey, a member of the 

 hawk family, stars as one of the state's 

 most impressive — and visible — 

 raptors. 



"It's not difficult to see ospreys," 

 says Jim Parnell, a Sea Grant biologist at 

 the University of North Carolina at 

 Wilmington. "They're most everywhere 

 along the coast." 



Also easy to spot are ospreys' nests, 

 huge stick-and-twig penthouses perched 

 on such lofty spots as treetops, power 

 poles and radio towers. 



Though conspicuous, the nests rarely 

 encroach on human activity, according to 

 Parnell. Occasionally, however, the large 

 birds will nest on navigational lights 

 along the coast, obscuring the colored 

 signals. 



"Sometimes the Coast Guard will 

 have to move a nest because it's interfer- 

 ing with a navigational aid," Parnell says. 



Apart from this minor problem, 

 humans and ospreys rarely interact. 



Some fishermen believe ospreys 

 pluck the best fish from the water, but 

 the opposite is actually true. "Ospreys 

 take the easiest fish to catch — the sick, 

 the weaker fish genetically — and help 

 keep a good, healthy fish population," 

 says Dick Brown, biology professor 

 at Brunswick Community College in 

 Supply. "They are no competition for 

 a true sportfisherman. 



"After all," Brown quips, "they have 

 to do it with their feet." 



In the 1960s, ospreys were fishing 

 for survival along the East Coast, where 

 pesticides were poisoning their food 

 supply, thinning their eggshells and 

 diminishing their numbers. Since the U.S. 

 ban on DDT and other pesticides, the 



osprey population has rebounded to 

 healthy levels, scientists believe. 



However, pollutants remain a threat 

 to many ospreys that winter in Central 

 and South America, where uses of deadly 

 pesticides are still rampant. "There may 

 still be some problems, but it's not like it 

 was," Brown says. 



Ospreys usually return to North 

 Carolina coasts, lakes and streams in 

 April. In northeastern North Carolina, 



ospreys can be seen along the causeway 

 of Lake Mattamuskeet. Inland, they nest 

 near lakes such as Norman and Townsend 

 — always near a bountiful supply of fish, 

 Brown says. 



Although ospreys are found world- 

 wide, population numbers are scant. 

 Biologists estimate that about 8,000 pairs 

 make the United States their home base. 

 Their nests are clustered in five main 

 regions: the Atlantic Coast, the Gulf, the 



20 MARCH/APRIL 1995 



