Nest Building & Maintenance

The unsung heroes of TIOF are the members of the Nest Building and Maintenance Team. Every year, during the “off season,” they kick into high gear to build the platforms, perches, and predator guards needed to provide homes for our Southwest Florida nesting Ospreys. Volunteers obtain materials, build the platforms and develop an inventory so that they can respond to emerging situations all year long. Each year, our monitors, concerned citizens, and seasonal visitors report to us about nests that need repair or replacement. Since most repairs cannot take place during nesting season, most of the team’s work is done during the heart of hurricane season! And that is only step 1.

Other TIOF volunteers, power companies and private commercial partners work together to get the 30 foot poles and platforms installed and “decorated” with authentic nesting materials to create desirable real estate options for our favorite raptor. TIOF also advises people who wish to put up Osprey nesting platforms on their properties, both here and in other states and/or countries. As more natural tree snags are lost to severe weather events, constructing these platforms has become more important that ever.

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