Rare polygamy saga playing out at Tweed Valley Ospreys Project

Osprey watchers are being treated to a rarely seen - and possibly never before captured on film – polygamy saga playing out at a nest in the Tweed Valley.

Forestry and land Scotland (FLS) cameras are capturing in real time the fascinating behaviour of two female ospreys and one male who have set up a home as a trio – a form of polygamy known as polygyny with a male breeding with multiple females.    

The cameras set up as part of The Tweed Valley Osprey Project are providing a fascinating insight into the natural behaviour between the adult birds – Mrs O, a female who has previously nested at the site and a new female and young male – as the partnership and nesting behaviour develops during the season.

Tweed Valley Osprey Project Co-ordinator, Diane Bennett said:

“So far things are looking good. The females seem amicable and tolerant with both having mated with the male bird and laying four eggs between them.

“The only tension witnessed so far has been on the arrival of a fish delivery from the male as the two females both make a grab it. Mrs O usually wins the fish and flies off to feed but has been seen to return with a portion remaining and letting the other female have it.

“This nest behaviour with all the birds in the same nest is very rare and as far as we know it is the first time this has ever been on a livestream camera with most other research involving such a set-up previously conducted though distant observation.

“Getting to watch this saga close up as the season unfolds is exciting both for the drama but also for the important research insights it will allow.” 

The background and identity of the new arrivals is unclear as while they both have British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) rings to generate information on the survival, productivity and movements of bird, they are not fitted with coloured, alphanumeric Darvic rings that allows researchers to identify individual birds.

Mrs O is also only fitted with a BTO ring but because she has been returning to the site for several years, she can be identified from her head markings. 

The Tweed Valley Osprey viewing centre at Glentress is accessible to all users. Ospreys have been coming to breed here since the 1990s and the project – funded and managed by FLS and supported by a team of volunteers – aims to protect and provide safe places for them to settle and nest.

The eggs are expected to hatch in coming weeks which will only bring further excitement and intrigue.

The Tweed Valley polygyny saga can be viewed at the Wildlife Hub at Glentress Forest in Peebles between 10am- 4pm each day, where the camera is streaming live onto the big screen, with volunteers on duty most of the time, to interpret what is happening with the osprey family.

Regular updates and video clips of behaviour and snapshots of the birds taken from the livestream are added to Tweed Valley Osprey Project Facebook Page which can be followed, to see how they progress though the season.

Notes to Editors

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