Study shows osprey chicks are starving; conservationists question connection to menhaden fishing

(VIRGINIA MERCURY) - According to the Virginia Mercury, Conservationists have been sounding the alarm for years over the lackluster breeding seasons for osprey along the Chesapeake Bay, and debate continues about why. A new study from the Center for Conservation Biology at the College of William & Mary shows broods that nest in areas of the Bay that rely mostly on Atlantic menhaden are more likely to starve to death just weeks after hatching.

Researchers point to populations of menhaden, a small forage fish, not being large enough to feed the chicks and the fish entering the Bay later in the breeding season as possible reasons for the starving birds. There have been signs of osprey populations struggling to breed for years, and challenges for other species that rely on the menhaden. A s