In 1998, conservation groups counted only 165 osprey nests on Long Island (including Brooklyn and Queens) with 215 baby birds. Since then, The Group for the East End has been monitoring the osprey population on eastern Long Island, recording data and assisting conservation efforts. One of those projects was to install and maintain more than 250 osprey nesting platforms. And in over three decades, the work has been critical to the osprey’s recovery.
“By the late 1980s, the Group was actively assisting in osprey recovery by erecting artificial osprey nesting platforms in appropriate locations, an activity we continued to varying degrees over the following three decades,” said Group for the East End director of environmental education Steve Biasetti in a statement.
In 2021, the conservation group reported on the health of the osprey population, calculating 634 ospreys in the five East End towns of East Hampton, Riverhead, Shelter Island, Southampton and Southold, documenting 466 active nesting pairs, which produced 585 babies.
According to the report issued by the Group for the East End late last year, osprey breeding activity on the East End has grown by 200% in the past seven years.
Group for the East End environmental associate Madison Hrysko says that they have compiled data that the organization uses in geographic mapping technology to show where the osprey nests are geographically and chart their success over time.
“These maps can be used to compare where they have historically nested, keep inventory of existing osprey poles, and help to gauge their success on Long Island, and share more accurate information with the public and integrate the monitoring data collected by other conservation organizations across Long Island,” said Hrysko.
A partner in these efforts is PSEG Long Island. The utility has helped to maintain nesting platforms and even installed 24-hour osprey webcams on two platforms located in Oyster Bay and Patchogue. Last month, crews cleared debris and garbage from these platforms to make them safe for the osprey as they return to breed.
The work coincided with World Wildlife Day on March 3.
Video: PSEG Long Island.
“The theme of this year’s World Wildlife Day is ‘recovering key species for ecosystem restoration,’ and the osprey’s recovery on Long Island is one of those success stories,’” said Michael Sullivan, PSEG Long Island’s vice president of Transmission & Distribution.
PSEG Long Island has installed dozens of new osprey nesting platforms to deter the returning birds from nesting on electrical equipment, which puts both the raptors and the electrical system in danger.
“PSEG Long Island is proud to play a small role in this multi-decade effort — because good environmental stewardship is part of being strongly involved in the community, and also because protecting these birds from high-voltage equipment improves reliability for our customers,” said Sullivan.