osprey

Everyday

An osprey is a large bird of prey with brown wings and a white underside that dives feet-first into water to catch fish. tree →

In the lessons

In science and nature lessons, ospreys live near lakes, rivers and coasts on every continent except Antarctica. They migrate long distances, for example from Scotland to West Africa. They nearly died out in Britain but have come back, and people watch their nests on webcams. They have special rough feet to grip slippery fish.

Examples

• An osprey dived into the lake and caught a trout. tree →
• Ospreys fly to Africa for the winter. tree →
• We watched the osprey nest on a webcam. tree →
• The osprey carried the fish head-first. tree →
• Ospreys returned to Scotland after many years. tree →
• An osprey's feet have spikes to grip fish. tree →

Note

Countable; use an: an osprey. Plural: ospreys. Sometimes called a fish hawk or sea hawk.