Grand Rapids Fire Department Rescues Osprey Tangled in Net on Grand River

Way to go GRFD!

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Local firefighters recently stepped up to help out an osprey that had gotten trapped in netting along the Grand River.

What is an Osprey?

According to All About Birds, ospreys are large, distinctively shaped hawks. They live near water and feed on fish. Osprey are also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk.

The Michigan DNR has listed osprey on the "Species of Greatest Conservation Need List", due to habitat loss and "indiscriminant shooting and contaminants [that] extirpated the species from the southern third of the state" prior to 1960.

Since then, osprey have made a comeback in the northern two-thirds of Michigan, but not in the south. According to the DNR, although osprey are now spreading in the southern Lower Peninsula, there are twice as many ospreys in the northern Lower Peninsula and three times as many in the U.P.

So it sounds like osprey are not all that common in the Grand Rapids area.

Grand Rapids Fire Department Rescue Osprey From Grand River

Wildlife Rehab Center, a local nonprofit organization, shared news of the Grand Rapids Fire Department's recent rescue of an osprey from netting along the Grand River to social media. The did not give the exact location where the incident occurred, but it looks to be not too far from downtown Grand Rapids.

It is really cool to see different organizations coming together to help West Michigan wildlife! Great job GRFD and Wildlife Rehab Center!