Three healthy hatchlings at Forsythe NWR!

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

If you haven’t noticed, we now have three healthy osprey nestlings at the nest at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, as viewed by our Osprey Cam. The first chick hatched on May 25th, the second on the 26th, and the third on the 28th. The eggs hatched in the order they were laid, referred to as asynchronous hatching. The incubation period was ~38 days for all three eggs (average is 35-37 in NJ; 32-43 throughout their range). With the cooler temperatures the longer period is expected. Osprey young are born semi-altricial, or are downy and require close parental care to survive. The male osprey has been very busy foraging and catching more prey to feed all the hungry mouths. Have you tried to identify the prey that they’ve brought in?

• Watch the Osprey Cam

Tags: 2013, AC, atlantic city, bird, chicks, Forsythe NWR, hatchling, New Jersey, NJ, osprey, Osprey cam, osprey nest, raptor

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 2nd, 2013 at 8:00 am and is filed under Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.