Osprey
Pandion haliaetus (Linnaeus, 1758)
The osprey (Pandion haliaetus) is a bird of prey in the family Pandionidae, order Accipitriformes. It is a medium-sized, migratory aquatic predator and carnivore with a marine habitat and an aerial foraging lifestyle.
Quick facts about the osprey
Adults weigh 1.483 kg, with reported values from 1.428 to 1.627 kg, and the wingspan is 1.6 m. It lays 3 eggs per clutch with 1 clutch per year, incubation lasts 37.5 days, sexual maturity comes at 3 years, and the IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.
- Weight
- 1.43 kg – 1.63 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 1.6 msrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 25 years – 32 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- marinesrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 37.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 3 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
How big is the osprey?
Photos of the osprey
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the osprey live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The osprey is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the osprey?
The osprey (Pandion haliaetus; ), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than 60 cm (24 in) in length and a wingspan of 180 cm (71 in). It is brown on the upperparts and predominantly greyish on the head and underparts.
The osprey is distributed on all continents except Antarctica, but in South America, it occurs only as a nonbreeding migrant. It lives in a wide variety of habitats and nests in locations near a body of water providing an adequate food supply. It has specialised physical characteristics and unique behaviour in hunting its prey, which consists almost exclusively of fish.
From the Wikipedia article “Osprey” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Osprey&oldid=1384749956), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the osprey sound like?
Is the osprey endangered?
The osprey is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the osprey classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderAccipitriformes
- familyPandionidae
- genusPandion
- SpeciesPandion haliaetus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Aquila anataria, Aquila balbuzardus, Aquila fluviatilis, Aquila marina, Aquila pyrenaica, Falco haliaetus, Falco pedibus ceraque, Ichthyaetus piscivorus, Pandion haliaetus friedmanni
Other names and names in other languages (160)
- Fish hawkEnglish
- SeahawkEnglish
- Western ospreyEnglish
- VisvalkAfrikaans
- شماطArabic
- العقاب النساريةArabic
- عقاب نساريArabic
- Aliga pescatairaAragonese
- Aigla PexeraAsturian
- águila marinaAsturian
- Çay qaraquşuAzerbaijani
- КәлмәргәнBashkir
- СкапаBelarusian
- Орел рибарBulgarian
- oрел рибарBulgarian
- মাছমুরালBangla
- Erer-splujBreton
- Àguila PeixateraCatalan
- àguila pescadoraCatalan
- СексӹMari
- КолвӓрӓшMari
- ᎧᏅᏧᏩCherokee
- Пулӑ хурчкиChuvash
- Шурӑ хурчкаChuvash
- هەڵۆی ماسیگرCentral Kurdish
- AlpanaCorsican
- orlovec říčníCzech
- gwalch y pysgodWelsh
- Gweilch y PysgodWelsh
- FischadlerGerman
- ΨαραετόςGreek
- fiŝagloEsperanto
- Komuna fiŝagloEsperanto
- Águila pescadoraSpanish
- Gavilán pescadorSpanish
- angllurayuliCentral Yupik
- kalakotkasEstonian
- Arrano arrantzaleBasque
- عقاب ماهیگیرPersian
- sääksi (kalasääski)Finnish
- KalasääskiFinnish
- SääksiFinnish
- FiskiørnFaroese
- aigle de merFrench
- Aigle pêcheurFrench
- Balbuzard fluviatileFrench
- Balbuzard pêcheurFrench
- FaskiarnNorthern Frisian
- Falcuz pescjadôrFriulian
- FiskearnWestern Frisian
- Aiglongcf
- CàirneachScottish Gaelic
- coirneachScottish Gaelic
- Iolair uisgeScottish Gaelic
- iolair-iasgaichScottish Gaelic
- iolair-uisgeScottish Gaelic
- iolairean-iasgaichScottish Gaelic
- iolairean-uisgeScottish Gaelic
- Aguia peixeiraGalician
- Shawk eeasteeManx
- Taguato rye morotîGuarani
- Malfini lanmèHaitian Creole
- שלךHebrew
- bukočCroatian
- Orao ribarCroatian
- Orao ribičCroatian
- halászsasHungarian
- ՋրարծիվArmenian
- Elang tiramIndonesian
- Mar-agloIdo
- GjóðurIcelandic
- falco pescatoreItalian
- ミサゴJapanese
- ウオタカJapanese
- 鶚Japanese
- შაკიGeorgian
- Сатхысkjh
- БалықшыKazakh
- Балықшы тұйғынKazakh
- 물수리Korean
- MorerCornish
- FëschadlerLuxembourgish
- FëschplompertLuxembourgish
- КьиллажайLezghian
- VèserendLimburgish
- Čháŋška hoyázelaLakota
- žuvininkasLithuanian
- erelis žuvininkasLithuanian
- c̓ix̌c̓ix̌lut
- ZivjērglisLatvian
- zivju ērglisLatvian
- FandrasatrondroMalagasy
- ni'kmawe'suMi'kmaw
- Орел-рибарMacedonian
- താലിപ്പരുന്ത്Malayalam
- ArpaMaltese
- Загасч явлагMongolian
- Teiakoia’táhkhwaMohawk
- कैकरMarathi
- Helang TiramMalay
- hahcukwvMuscogee
- rvro-papvMuscogee
- ဝန်လက်Burmese
- Tónteel giníNavajo
- fiskeørnNorwegian Bokmål
- visarendDutch
- Orfinnenrm
- ᐱᒋᑯᑲᐧᓀOjibwa
- BiijigigwaneOjibwa
- କୁରର ପକ୍ଷୀOdia
- PatalewaPapiamento
- Gabilan di LamanPapiamento
- Gabilan PiskadóPapiamento
- Gabilon PiscadorPapiamento
- rybołówPolish
- آسپرےWestern Panjabi
- guinchoPortuguese
- águia-pescadoraPortuguese
- águia-pesqueiraPortuguese
- águia-pesqueira-australianaPortuguese
- águia-pesqueira-comumPortuguese
- Evla da peschsRomansh
- ospreiRomanian
- Acvila piticăRomanian
- Uligan pescarRomanian
- Vultur pescarRomanian
- vulturul pescarRomanian
- СкобRusyn
- УмсанYakut
- Aculoccia di mariSicilian
- Fish-hawkScots
- CiekcáNorthern Sami
- ČiekčáNorthern Sami
- guollefálliNorthern Sami
- guollegoaskinNorthern Sami
- guolletNorthern Sami
- Onidzogwë’Seneca
- kršiak rybárSlovak
- ribji orelSlovenian
- petriti peshkngënësAlbanian
- shqiponja peshkngrënëseAlbanian
- RibarSerbian
- РибарSerbian
- fiskgjuseSwedish
- KohoSwahili
- விரால் அடிப்பான்Tamil
- เหยี่ยวออสเปรThai
- HalyetoFilipino
- balık kartalıTurkish
- балык-теверTuvinian
- СкопаUkrainian
- скопа західнаUkrainian
- Ó cáVietnamese
- VisoarndWest Flemish
- פֿיש־אָדלערYiddish
- Àwòdì apẹjaYoruba
- VisaerendZeelandic
- 鹗Chinese
- 西方魚鷹Chinese
- 魚鷹Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the osprey
Other species in the same genus Pandion.
CompareOsprey vs Pandion pannonicusOsprey vs Pandion fluvialis
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the osprey?
The osprey is a bird of prey in the family Pandionidae and the order Accipitriformes.
How big is the osprey?
The osprey has a wingspan of 1.6 m and adults weigh 1.483 kg, with reported values from 1.428 to 1.627 kg. It is classed as medium-sized.
What does the osprey eat?
The osprey is an aquatic predator and a carnivore.
Is the osprey endangered?
No. The osprey is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does an osprey live?
The osprey has a lifespan of 25 years, and sources report up to 32 years.
How many eggs does an osprey lay?
The osprey lays 3 eggs per clutch, with 1 clutch per year, and incubation lasts 37.5 days.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Osprey (Pandion haliaetus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/osprey
“Osprey (Pandion haliaetus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/osprey.
@misc{osprey_2026,
title = {Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/osprey},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}