When do ospreys arrive in and leave the UK?

A summer visitor in the records: sightings rise sharply from late March, are near their peak by mid April, and fall away after early October.

When do ospreys arrive in the UK?

In the GBIF records, UK sightings of the osprey rise sharply from late March and are near their peak by mid April.

When do ospreys leave the UK?

UK sightings fall away after early October.

Where do ospreys go in winter?

From December to February the strongest signal in the effort-adjusted GBIF records is around Spain. The globe shows the whole winter range month by month.

Osprey in the UK, month by month

Bars: this species’ share of all UK bird records in GBIF (CC0/CC BY 4.0 only), by month, scaled to the peak month. Based on 28,824 UK records (occurrence search API, country=GB, weekly). Dates come from sightings, not a survey, so treat them as a guide.

See the osprey migration on the 3D globe →

About the osprey

The osprey, historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than 60 cm (24 in) in length and a wingspan of 180 cm (71 in). It is brown on the upperparts and predominantly greyish on the head and underparts.

From the Wikipedia article “Osprey” (revision 1379339911), CC BY-SA 4.0, shortened at a sentence end. Winter/summer areas: country containing the monthly hotspot of effort-adjusted GBIF records, using Natural Earth boundaries (public domain).

Other UK summer visitors: see the full list with arrival and departure dates.