A REVIEW OF THE
STATUS OF OSPREY
NESTING IN NSW
An Ekerlogic Consulting Services (ECS) and NSW National Parks and
Wildlife Service (NPWS) Project funded by the Foundation for National Parks and
Wildlife.
The Osprey (Pandion haliaetus cristatus) is listed
as a Vulnerable species under the NSW
Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995. The distribution of the Osprey in NSW is
coastal from the NSW/Queensland border to the south coast of NSW, with
occasional sightings inland. The
Osprey is extremely rare on the south coast and Sydney region, with very few
historical and current records.
There are occasional sightings around the Central Coast and the Newcastle
– Port Stephens region. The Osprey
is however, most abundant and widespread from the mid-north to far north coast
regions. The distribution of
breeding Ospreys from 1977-1988 occurred from Eraring on the Central Coast to
the NSW/Queensland border, with a breeding population within this range of
approximately 45-50 pairs.
The NSW NPWS (Northern Directorate) has
commissioned ECS to undertake a review of the status of nesting Ospreys in
NSW. The aim of the project is to
prepare an up-to-date inventory of active Osprey nests in NSW, collating
existing information from various sources and updating and adding to this
information through field surveys.
The information will be used by the NPWS to prepare a
recovery plan for the species in NSW.
This project relies on the information from
a wide range of key National and State organisations, local Councils,
birdwatching groups, individual bird watchers and interested members of the
public. We are hoping that these
groups can provide information on the location of current and previously active
Osprey nests. This information will
be an important first step in assessing the status of Osprey nesting in
NSW. Field surveys, which will
occur from June-November 2003 (during the breeding season) will both ground
truth this information as well as add the data already available.
If anyone has any information on nesting
Ospreys anywhere in NSW, could they please contact Peter Ekert directly on (02)
49500573 or 0140566104 or email
