O
Ornithology of Tobago - Bird Lists in alphabetical order started with "O":
orange-winged parrot Amazona amazonica PARROT orange-winged parrot
Order: Psittaciformes Family: Psittacidae
Identification Tips: Length: 32cm (13in)
The plumage is deep green with orange in both wings and tail. forehead and lores are blue. Yellow on crown and cheeks. Very common in Tobago and flocks of up to 20 are seen regularly over forest margins. Their call which sounds like a shrill scream is heard in chorus when the fruits ripen on trees, its dinner time. Shamefully it is kept as a pet by some Tobagonians as they are considered pests.
Breeds January - June but most in February. They nest in holes, often on palm trees. Clutch size: 5, eggs white. Length of incubation: 21 days.
Days to fledge: 60.
Diet: Fruit - especially palms, hog-plums, seeds and flowers and has caused some damage to cocoa cultivation.
osprey Pandion haliaetus HAWK
Order: Falconiformes Family: Accipitridae Common name: fish hawk
Identification Tips: Length: 56cm (22in) Wingspan: 137cm (54in)
Large, narrow-winged hawk. Flies on flat wings with distinct kink at elbow. Wings taper to a rounded tip. Short hooked beak. White cap. Dark brown eyeline broadening behind eye. Dark brown nape,backand upperwings. Wings from below: flight feathers white barred with black, undersecondary coverts white and underprimary coverts black producing rectangular black mark at wrist. Whitechin, throat,breastand belly Brown tail has a number of white bands. Hovers and then plunges into water after fish.
Adult male: Underparts entirely white.
Adult female: Dark necklace of streaks on throat.
Immature: White tips to darkbackfeathers.
Found to the north and south of Tobago.
High-pitched cat like noise, khyeep-khyeep.
Similar species: Unmarked white belly, wing shape, and flight style make the osprey instantly recognisable even at a distance.
The ospreys come to Tobago from North America. Most of them are here from August to April, but some spend the whole northern summer in Tobago.
Diet: Fish up to 46cm (18in) long. Most of them fish in the lagoons in the northern part of Tobago. Flying over the water, they dive down with their feet first to grab a fish, then fly off to a tree to eat it.