Ospreys

Last year, volunteers across the state monitored 50 osprey nests, and according to the 2024 report, saw 64% of the nests raise their young to the fledgling stage, or the age where the baby birds can fly, which the department considers a “successful nest.” 

The osprey, a bird of prey unique for its entirely fish-based diet, was restored to Iowa from 1997 until 2016, and now the populations are monitored by DNR. 

DNR Avian Ecologist Anna Buckardt Thomas said it is not always clear why some nests are successful and others are not, but she said Iowa had a high number of fledglings this year because of the overall growth in its osprey population. 

“The population has taken hold in Iowa,” Buckardt Thomas said.

The bird was never observed by European settlers in Iowa but tribal nations who lived in the region have accounts of the birds nesting along Iowa’s many waterways. According to DNR, osprey populations across the country were heavily affected by  DDT, and by 1981 the continental U.S. had just 8,000 pairs of osprey.