The adaptability of ospreys

As the satellite-tagged osprey Deshar continues to seek a permanent spot in West Africa in which to settle, this podcast looks at how ospreys on their first migration have to compete for space with older birds unwilling to give up prime locations.  Roy Dennis explains how  ospreys learn to adapt to fishing in foreign waters, facing new hazards such as crocodiles,  and hears from The Gambia on how juveniles cope with the hostility of more experienced birds.  Because each bird is an individual, with its own particular skills, we also hear how some are simply better than others at finding enough to eat.

From Morocco, too, we hear news of what killed Carr, the brother of Deshar, whose remains were found on the edge of a reservoir in Morocco.  At first thought to have fallen prey to a fox or a dog, the bird was not, in fact, killed by a mammal at all, and Roy explains how a glance at the feathers and bones was enough to explain its death.

Producer: Moira Hickey
Contributors (in order of appearance): Roy Dennis, Junkung Jadama, Mike Crutch

Music credit: Realness by Kai Engel, from the Free Music Archive
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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