Osprey Nesting in Iowa
Posted: 07/10/2012

Iowa’s osprey reintroduction effort is in full swing with 16 wild nest attempts reported this year, and 14 relocated from Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The relocated ospreys will be released at Dubuque, in Warren County and in Carroll County.

At Mud Lake, the Dubuque County Conservation Board and University of Dubuque volunteers will release five Wisconsin ospreys in next few weeks.

At Annett Nature Center, the Warren County Conservation Board and volunteers will release five Minnesota ospreys.

At Swan Lake, the Carroll County Conservation Board and volunteers will release four Minnesota ospreys.  
When young ospreys are about 42 days old, they are capable of tearing apart fish and can be relocated to new habitat.  Ospreys exhibit strong natal site fidelity or they return to nest where they learn to fly and to forage for fish. Once in Iowa, ospreys, particularly the males, will imprint on Iowa to return to nest when three or four years of age.

Since 1997, 233 ospreys have been released at 12 sites.  Since 2003, 90 wild ospreys have been produced at 53 successful nests.