Satellite-tagged osprey nearly sets longevity record and productivity response to initial captures

We equipped adult Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) from 24 nests in Oregon/Washington with satellite-tracked battery-powered radios, known as platform transmitter terminals (PTTs), in 1996–1999. These Ospreys from the lower Columbia River (river miles 76–286), and the Willamette Valley in western Oregon were part of a larger study of Osprey fall migration, wintering ecology, and spring migration, which included additional adults from the Upper Midwest and East Coast of the United States (Martell et al. 2001, 2014, Washburn et al. 2014). These early-generation PTTs weighed 30–35 g (Microwave Telemetry Inc., Columbia, MD U.S.A.) and utilized the ARGOS tracking system (www.argos-system.org). We placed PTTs on the birds' backs using Teflon ribbon (Bally Ribbon, Bally, PA U.S.A.) in a standard backpack configuration (Kenward 2001). With the mass of adult male Ospreys 1400 to 1500 g (Poole et al. 2002), the ratio of tag mass to body mass was 2.0 to 2.5%. Ospreys also received a standard size 8 bird band (U.S. Geological Survey) on one leg and a numbered color band on the other. For more details on trapping techniques, attachment procedures, the battery-powered units, turn-on, turn-off cycles, and tracking equipment, see Martell et al. (2001).