Once a threatened species, the osprey appears to be making a comeback on the East End, according to a study from a Southold-based environmental nonprofit.
Monitoring of the avian species last summer in the five East End towns showed a continued uptick in population, with Group for the East End documenting 353 active nesting pairs that produced 505 fledglings, or baby ospreys, according to a new report from the organization.
During the late 1950s through 1970s, Long Island’s osprey population declined due to use of pesticides such as DDT over marshlands that affected fish the osprey would eat, as well as increased wetlands development, Bob DeLuca, the nonprofit’s president, told Newsday.
“Here on Long Island, the osprey is iconic … It’s a bird that many people associate with living on Long Island, it fishes locally like we do. When those numbers fell off the cliff, there was quite a bit of concern over whether or not they could come back,” DeLuca said.
However, the osprey population has improved steadily to levels close to where it was prior to the decline decades ago, the environmental activist said.
The osprey’s status was downgraded from “threatened” to “special concern” in 1999, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Ospreys usually measure 22 to 25 inches, with a wingspan of 4 to 6 feet, and are attracted to the sizable fish population on Long Island’s coastlines. The birds tend to return to the same location every year to nest and raise fledglings.
The return of the ospreys, DeLuca said, could be attributed to two things.
One is an increase in nesting — which has been encouraged with the installation of nesting platforms and more monitoring of the birds by nonprofits in the last 30 years, according to the environmentalist.
He said regulations limiting the fishing of Atlantic menhaden — a major osprey food source also known as bunker fish — are the second reason.
“The population has come back almost fully, and as a result, the challenge is to sustain that population,” DeLuca said.
The monitoring program, which operates with grants and private contributions, also gets support from PSEG Long Island when it comes to hazard assessment and conflict response, which is when people call about birds nesting on utility poles.
The nonprofit and utility company work together to identify problem areas and install mitigation measures designed to prevent osprey nesting.
Of 600 utility poles Group for the East End surveyed, 200 were identified as posing a risk for the birds and more than 80 of the highest risk poles received V-guard installations — mechanisms that prevent nesting.
Lisanne Altmann, a major account executive with PSEG Long Island, said the company has a dedicated osprey team that works on relocating nests safely in winter.
“We want to make sure the ospreys don’t get harmed and, at the same time, that the lights don’t go out for hundreds of people,” Altmann said.
Once a threatened species, the osprey appears to be making a comeback on the East End, according to a study from a Southold-based environmental nonprofit.
Monitoring of the avian species last summer in the five East End towns showed a continued uptick in population, with Group for the East End documenting 353 active nesting pairs that produced 505 fledglings, or baby ospreys, according to a new report from the organization.
During the late 1950s through 1970s, Long Island’s osprey population declined due to use of pesticides such as DDT over marshlands that affected fish the osprey would eat, as well as increased wetlands development, Bob DeLuca, the nonprofit’s president, told Newsday.
“Here on Long Island, the osprey is iconic … It’s a bird that many people associate with living on Long Island, it fishes locally like we do. When those numbers fell off the cliff, there was quite a bit of concern over whether or not they could come back,” DeLuca said.
However, the osprey population has improved steadily to levels close to where it was prior to the decline decades ago, the environmental activist said.
The osprey’s status was downgraded from “threatened” to “special concern” in 1999, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Ospreys usually measure 22 to 25 inches, with a wingspan of 4 to 6 feet, and are attracted to the sizable fish population on Long Island’s coastlines. The birds tend to return to the same location every year to nest and raise fledglings.
The return of the ospreys, DeLuca said, could be attributed to two things.
One is an increase in nesting — which has been encouraged with the installation of nesting platforms and more monitoring of the birds by nonprofits in the last 30 years, according to the environmentalist.
He said regulations limiting the fishing of Atlantic menhaden — a major osprey food source also known as bunker fish — are the second reason.
“The population has come back almost fully, and as a result, the challenge is to sustain that population,” DeLuca said.
The monitoring program, which operates with grants and private contributions, also gets support from PSEG Long Island when it comes to hazard assessment and conflict response, which is when people call about birds nesting on utility poles.
The nonprofit and utility company work together to identify problem areas and install mitigation measures designed to prevent osprey nesting.
Of 600 utility poles Group for the East End surveyed, 200 were identified as posing a risk for the birds and more than 80 of the highest risk poles received V-guard installations — mechanisms that prevent nesting.
Lisanne Altmann, a major account executive with PSEG Long Island, said the company has a dedicated osprey team that works on relocating nests safely in winter.
“We want to make sure the ospreys don’t get harmed and, at the same time, that the lights don’t go out for hundreds of people,” Altmann said.