Osprey Makes Shocking Transatlantic Crossing

A young female osprey made a shocking transatlantic journey from Scotland to Barbados recently, becoming the first UK osprey ever observed in the Americas. The intrepid bird had been tagged last summer in Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park in Renfrewshire.

The Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, which has been tracking osprey migrations since 1999, said the bird covered 4,124 miles on its epic journey. The bird was first spotted on Barbados in late October by conservationist Michael St John, who couldn’t get close enough to read its tag at the time. He spotted her again at an irrigation pond on the island, and this time the ring was legible.

“This is the kind of distance that many Ospreys from northern Europe will migrate each year – some Finish Ospreys are known to winter in South Africa, which is considerably further,” writes Tim Mackrill on the Foundation website. “But of course what makes this record amazing is the fact that the vast majority of the journey is across the Atlantic Ocean.”

It is so amazing that the trackers suspect at least part of the journey was made via hitchhiking.

“It is highly unlikely that even an Osprey could have completed this in a single flight, even with strong tailwinds, and so it is probable that she took the opportunity to rest on boats, which may themselves have been traveling to the Caribbean from the UK.”

Where will she go next? Young ospreys usually remain on their wintering grounds a full year, so this one could hang out on Barbados until spring 2024. Normally an osprey will return to its birthplace in its third year but that’s probably not an option for this one, unless she catches a ride on another boat.

Photo credit: Michael St John