Osprey cam is livestreaming: Is this year’s Grand Lake osprey couple the same as previous years?
Kent Roorda/Courtesy photo
In the email updates that Kent Roorda, custodian of the Grand Lake osprey livestream camera, sends out regularly, he often answers questions he receives from viewers.
In an email update sent out April 20, Roorda explained how to tell the difference between the male and female osprey.
“The female osprey has speckles on her chest, while the male has a pure white chest,” he wrote.
The osprey couple have been nesting in Grand Lake for around 9 years now. However, this prompted the question of how Roorda knows it is the same pair of birds.
Roorda explained that every osprey has a unique marking on the back of its head, similar to a human’s fingerprint. He uses this unique marking to identify the pair of osprey — the same pair — who have made Grand Lake their home for about half of the year.
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The unique marking on this osprey’s head is used to identify it, which is how Roorda knows it is the same bird who has been nesting in Grand Lake for nine years now.
Kent Roorda/Courtesy photo
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The marking on the back of this osprey’s head affirms that this is the same bird as previous years.
Kent Roorda/Courtesy photo
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