Singed Osprey Saved In Hudson County After Possible Chimney Encounter

An injured osprey found in Bayonne will be fine… after a little TLC, of course.

Staff at the Liberty Humane Society – which serves an area that includes Hoboken, Jersey City and Bayonne - reported that they recently helped to rescue and rehab an osprey, a large bird of prey commonly found around bodies of water.

LHS staff said that they found the osprey in Bayonne after their animal control officers received a report of an injured bird.

When discovered, the osprey had singed feathers and burns on its legs and feet, possibly a result of an encounter with a methane exhaust chimney in the Meadowlands, LHS staff said.

“[Ospreys] love to roost and nest on high structures, ideally trees and nesting platforms, but also sometimes telephone and utility poles and the occasional exhaust pipe chimney in landfills,” LHS staff stated.

“It is unlikely that this bird would have thrived during a harsh NJ winter, so the bird was flown to a wild bird rehabilitator in Florida [The Raptor Trust], where it spent a sunny winter recuperating, and was released back into the wild once its new feathers molted in,” LHS staff added.

“The Raptor Trust was able to treat the burns with creams and pain medications, but the bird’s feathers could not be fixed so quickly. Ospreys only molt once a year and this one would not grow in new feathers for many more months. To complicate the situation, ospreys are migratory birds that prefer to winter in a warm climate.”

• See related article: Making a Comeback: Baby Peregrine Falcons Nest on the Outerbridge Crossing

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