If the Seattle Seahawks lived up to their namesake, they would be known as the Seattle Osprey. Inspired by these magnificent birds of prey, the team unveiled their team sea hawk logo in 1976, which was a stylized inspiration paying homage to artwork of the Kwakwaka’wakw people who lived along the Pacific Northwest coast, primarily in southern British Columbia. The strength and power of these birds created an ideal icon for the franchise’s image.
“Osprey can nest in urban areas and are associated with water,” said Kylie Lanuza, Think Wild’s Wildlife Community Science Project Coordinator. Kylie will be the March guest speaker for the East Cascades Bird Alliance’s Birders’ Night at Worthy Brewing on March 12, starting at 6pm. Her program will focus on the natural history of osprey in Central Oregon, hazards the birds face, and a program called OspreyWatch.
According to the National Audubon Society, osprey populations crashed in the 1950s to 1970s due to unregulated pesticide use, such as DDT, that poisoned birds and impacted the thickness of their egg shells, resulting in premature deaths for the embryos. With the banning of DDT in 1972, osprey populations have rebounded, and the species has become a real conservation success story.
Historically, ospreys nested in tree snags often near lakes, rivers, or the coastline. They are primarily fishers, as about 99 percent of their diet is fish, leading to their nicknames of “fish hawk” or “sea hawk.” With the loss of snags or trees with large limbs which the osprey used for their nest sites, the birds have adapted to nesting on artificial platforms and bridges, and even cliff faces. However, nesting in urban or rural areas may have consequences, as the birds use artificial items such as bailing twine in their nest construction.
“There is risk of strangulation of the nestlings from bailing twine, or the twine can hang down and cause a fire, which is both a safety hazard and a potential hazard to the bird,” said Lanuza. The hay rope can also become entwined around the feet and legs of the nestlings, cutting off blood supply to their lower extremities. The Think Wild animal hospital has treated numerous osprey which have either fallen out of the nest or become entangled in twine.
Both Pacific Power and Central Electric Coop are involved locally with installing perch points or nest platforms where osprey nesting activity may be in conflict with the electrical wires; Pacific Power’s program is called the Avian Protection Plan. Electrocutions sometimes happen where the wings touch two wires, creating an electrical circuit through the bird or where nesting material drops off the platform into the wires and creates a fire. Instead of just removing the nest, the companies work to ensure that the birds have a safe location to raise their young.
“People can also report these hazard nests to Pacific Power or CEC,” said Lanuza, “It’s really nice to know that we’ve got a great power company that’s concerned about birds.” Sometimes the power company is called to rescue a bird dangling below the nest, tethered by leg with bailing twine.
Another way for the public to become involved with osprey conservation is to join the community-science program OspreyWatch. The Center for Conservation Biology developed OspreyWatch in 2012 as a citizen science volunteer project to record nesting activity of these raptors. “OspreyWatch is a global community science platform where people can go out and adopt a nest,” said Lanuza. By uploading information through the free app, scientists can mine this huge data set about the birds nesting activity. “This information can tell us about the fidelity of the nest and the environment that they live in. They are called ‘sentinel species,’ and if you think of the concept of the canary in a coal mine, that’s very similar to what osprey are,” said Lanuza.
As part of the presentation, Lanuza will instruct participants how to use the app. From the Old Mill District to Crane Prairie to the Deschutes River, osprey are widespread in Central Oregon, and their nests easily viewed. They are an iconic Northwest species with a global distribution making them a perfect species for engagement with the public.
“These birds are interesting to watch because the nestlings grow so incredibly fast compared to a lot of other species because they are migratory and though they start off small, their growth spurt is crazy,” added Lanuza. “These birds are such a charismatic species, and they’re right in our backyard, which makes them a perfect local community-science species.”
ECBA Birders’ Night
March 12 6pm
Worthy Brewing
495 NE Bellevue Dr., Bend
www.ecbirds.org
Free
This article appears in the Source February 19, 2026.
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
