When I used to photograph the Bald Eagles at Mud Lock, I saw House Sparrows within the Eagle's nest as well, so I wasn't too surprised to hear that they do it to Ospreys as well. I'm glad to hear that the sparrows may provide some benefit to the Ospreys, as well. I hate the House Sparrows because they are so aggressive at the feeders and hog the bird houses. I tolerate them because they eat lots of bugs in my gardens and yard. I've never had an insect problem because the birds take care of them.
Sent from my iPad > On Jun 8, 2014, at 9:43 AM, Candace Cornell <cec...@gmail.com> wrote: > > There is a family of house sparrows nesting with the ospreys again this year > at Salt Point. My Salt Point On Osprey Time blog #11 > (http://www.lansingrec.com/parks/20-salt-point/salt-point-articles/27-on-osprey-time) > address this, but it has not been posted yet as our web master is in > Finland. > > The fish-eating ospreys tolerate other species such as the sparrows, tree > swallows, starlings, and others to nest near them, usually under the > platform. It's probably some form of mutalism, but it has not been studied. > The smaller birds probably keep the nest cleaner with less ecoparasites for > the osprey to contend with. In exchange, the smaller bird get a sturdy > structure to build a nest on and the (passive) protection of the osprey > against predators. > > I wish it had been a gnatcatcher. The house sparrows are ravishing the Salt > Point nest boxes, destroying the bluebird and tree swallow eggs that were > doing so well. > > Candace > > >> On Sun, Jun 8, 2014 at 7:50 AM, Karen Edelstein <k...@cornell.edu> wrote: >> Last night, during our sunset walk at Salt Point in Lansing, Joe and I got >> some nice views of the osprey pair sharing a fish on the platform edge. >> When we were ready to leave (it was getting quite dark by then) one osprey >> was down incubating presumably while the other stayed alert on the perch >> (ha-ha... fish or pole or both). Some movement along the outside of the nest >> caught Joe's attention. Although the light was terrible, I could see a >> long, twitching tail with a slight notch and very quick movements. Blue >> gray gnatcatcher I'm guessing. The little bird and the big osprey had to >> have been aware of each other but unbothered by each other's presence. The >> little bird worked its way around the edge and then into the nest itself >> before it got too dark to see anymore. >> What was going on? Gleaning bugs? Anyone else seen this? Could it have been >> some species other than gnatcatcher? >> > > -- > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics > Rules and Information > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > Archives: > The Mail Archive > Surfbirds > BirdingOnThe.Net > Please submit your observations to eBird! > -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
