A Fine, Feathered Friendship

This article appeared in the Fall 2018 edition of Santee Cooper’s print magazine, PowerSource. The accompanying, original video was featured in the online publication.

Ann Elizabeth Bailey | 2018

Ospreys are intense birds in appearance. The 2-foot-long animals are cornucopias of brown feathers with white underbellies textured like cotton. Between their hooked talons and yellow stoplight eyes, they project haughtiness and power.

The face of an osprey appears perpetually angry. When one first encounters an osprey, it’s the condescending exterior that makes it difficult to believe that its call can really sound like that — a squeaking chirp calling out across the power lines.

Ospreys are one of the most geographically widespread of all bird species in the world. They nest near water indiscriminate of region. Whether you’re in Alaska or Aruba, you’re likely to meet one. Ospreys inhabit both saltwater and freshwater areas, and they are excellent anglers whose diets consist almost exclusively of fish.

Osprey eyes are able to calculate water refraction so that their aim is accurate, and the unique curve of their talons is advantageous when gripping slippery fish. It is fitting that ospreys would be so finely tuned to their environments; they’ve had 3 million years of evolution to perfect their assets. Some scientists believe that ospreys have been around for even longer, claiming that they have inhabited the planet for 10 to 15 million years.

When it comes to nesting, ospreys have definite preferences. An osprey’s first choice of habitat is a dead tree. As fishers, ospreys have a more vertical flight path than other birds, so when they come in to land, they hover over the target and drop down. While the trait works to their benefit when searching for dinner, it makes it difficult for ospreys to fly into areas of heavy foliage. Instead, they prefer open spaces and naked structures. So, a dead tree is the ideal home for a family of ospreys.

When a tree is unavailable or unappealing, ospreys get creative. This is where Santee Cooper’s friendship with the birds begins.

Santee Cooper power lines and communication towers have attracted ospreys for years. As Brad Sale, park director at Old Santee Canal Park, explains, “The power lines actually make really good nesting sites for ospreys, just because they like to be out in the open. Most of these power lines are out in clearings. They’re close to water.”

He elaborated that ospreys love having a 360-degree view in order to be able to see everything that approaches. For the most part, birds prefer to remain hidden in foliage, but as strong, territorial birds of prey, ospreys are an exception. Santee Cooper structures make perfect homes for them.

Sale has been with Old Santee Canal Park for 11 years and has degrees in marine science and biology, with a master’s in education. He says that Moncks Corner is an ideal place for ospreys. Many can be found around the Tailrace Canal and Lake Moultrie. Sale elaborates on protocol for handling the birds.

“For the most part, osprey nests do not bother the power lines as far as disrupting service,” he explains. “In the rare occasion that they do, Santee Cooper has a great working relationship with the Center for Birds of Prey in Awendaw, South Carolina, north of Charleston. We’ll call them occasionally for advice or suggestions on what to do about ospreys.”

The Center for Birds of Prey is part of the Avian Conservation Center founded in 2004. Although Santee Cooper has an obligation to the ospreys, there is also a responsibility to customers who depend on Santee Cooper power. When particularly rambunctious osprey families cause disruptions, it is the Center for Birds of Prey that comes to the rescue.

Avian Conservation Center founder Jim Elliott breaks down the process for safely relocating them.

“They are a species that will respond to an artificial nest platform, which is not something all birds do. That creates an opportunity when a nest is in an unfortunate place. We can offer them a man-made alternative that they might accept,” Elliott says, recalling the center’s past work with Santee Cooper.

The process isn’t always easy. Ospreys have what is referred to as “nest fidelity,” meaning they are tethered to one location. Their instinct to stay in one place can lengthen the relocation process.

If power disruptions occur, an inactive nest will be relocated so that the birds are encouraged to move when they return. This is the preferred course of action because it does not force the birds to rebuild. A perceptive eye may notice Santee Cooper platforms already hosting ospreys around Moncks Corner. Those are the nests that have been relocated in the past due to power disruptions. Active nests pose more of a challenge, so the Avian Conservation Center and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service help by advising Santee Cooper on what to do in those situations.

A prime example of nest protection during standard operations is found at the Jefferies Hydroelectric Station near Moncks Corner. Demolition of the old, coal-fired generating station site wrapped over the summer, except for one tower. Before the structure was scheduled to come down, feathered opportunists set up shop on the skeletal metal construction. It wasn’t until the ospreys hatched their eggs and left that the nest could be moved and the tower could come down.

Brian Holmes, director of Santee Cooper’s environmental management systems, explains why Santee Cooper takes extra steps to protect osprey nests, even when law doesn’t require it.

“We’re happy to have them,” he says. “The regulations and laws around avian protection are very strict, so we want to make sure we’re doing the right thing to stay in compliance. That’s a starting point, but we want to go beyond that and encourage protections.”

“Birds have just as much right to survive and thrive on this planet as we do,” Santee Cooper Environmental Specialist III William Brown asserts. To Brown, a day on the water would not be complete without the call of ospreys overhead. While the sentimental and aesthetic values of the birds are precious, Brown is resolute that the environmental importance of ospreys is not to be ignored. Elliott agrees. They are vital to the health of their ecosystems.

“They reflect the health of that marine environment because they almost eat exclusively fish. The health of ospreys is a direct reflection of the health of that coastal ecosystem,” Elliott explains. However, the birds are also valuable from an evolutionary standpoint.

“There’s an interesting discussion about treating injured birds, and is it worthwhile treating one, or two, or three ospreys, you know? You’re not saving a species. Should you invest more of your money into treating populations and looking at global migration? But we don’t know what that bird you saw today is carrying in terms of that evolution. Genetically, if you take that bird out, you don’t know what all you’re losing.”

Elliott believes that every osprey is valuable because it is the product of over 3 million years of evolutionary genetics. Ospreys are continually perfecting themselves to match the environment.

Santee Cooper’s relationship with ospreys is a protective, symbiotic one, and people like Sale, Elliott, Holmes and Brown are working to keep it that way. Ospreys were here long before Santee Cooper, and through environmental efforts and conservation, they’re here to stay.

National Geographic has declared 2018 as the Year of the Bird in order to celebrate the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Ongoing educational efforts aim to inform citizens about the importance of birds and all the services they provide to their ecosystems.

“It’s a great year to educate the public about birds, to learn about birds, to go out and see birds,” Sale says. “We encourage people to come out here to the park and see all of the birds that we have here to offer, especially the ospreys.”