Osprey Nest Suffers Great Horned Owl Attacks

For those of you who don't follow the Osprey livecam the Owl Research Institute hosts through a partnership with Explore.org... the season has gotten off to a rocky start.

After much relief and excitement over the Charlotte and Charlie's return, nesting neighbors - a Great Horned Owl pair - started causing trouble. For three nights in a row, Charlie was attacked while sleeping on his perch, as seen above, by the male Great Horned Owl.

Last night the Osprey pair switched things up - with Charlotte, the larger of the two ,as is typical in birds of prey, taking the perch for the night. While we don't know why they did this - could be an adaptive strategy; could be random - we hope it continues and the Great Horneds relent - if this is in fact the reason for the lapse. The Great Horned pair has nest with chicks approximately 200 yards from the Osprey nest.

While these events can be difficult to watch, it is not our role to intervene in any way. These are wild animals and nature must take its course. Live cam footage can be viewed here:

https://explore.org/livecams/owl-research-institute/charlo-montana-osprey-nest