Birds of Prey

Ospreys are superb fishers and indeed eat little else—fish make up some 99 percent of their diet. Because of this appetite, these birds can be found near ponds, rivers, lakes, and coastal waterways around the world.

Ospreys hunt by diving to the water's surface from some 30 to 100 feet up. They have gripping pads on their feet to help them pluck fish from the water with their curved claws and carry them for great distances. In flight, ospreys will orient the fish headfirst to ease wind resistance.

Eagles and ospreys frequent similar habitats and sometimes battle for food. Eagles often force osprey to drop fish that they have caught and steal them in midair.

In most instances, ospreys are monogamous and mate for life. The male osprey attracts a mate with an aerial display near a nesting location. The pair gathers materials to build the nest, typically set on a tall tree or pole near the water. After several years of adding materials, osprey nests can grow as tall as ten feet.

Brahminy kites are known to be opportunistic scavengers that will eat just about anything, including food waste (from boats and rubbish dumps); carrion (dead animals), such as dead fish; and crabs., but occasionally hunt live prey such as hares, bats, and flying insects.

Young Brahminy kites like to play; they may drop leaves and try to catch them in the air.

When fishing over water, Brahminy kites may sometimes land in the water, but manage to swim and take off without much trouble.

Known as elang bondol in Indonesia, the Brahminy kite is the official mascot of Jakarta. In Hinduism, it is considered as the contemporary representation of Garuda, the sacred bird of Vishnu.

The Brahminy Kite is a familiar bird of prey and often referred to as the Singapore Bald Eagle.

The eagles live on a primary diet of fish, sea snakes and crustaceans such as crabs. They have been observed dropping crabs from a height to break their shells before consuming them.11

Despite being efficient hunters, White-bellied eagles sometimes steal food from their own species, including their mates. They attack these birds by striking them with outstretched talons from above or by flying upside down underneath the smaller predator and snatching the prey, all the while screeching shrilly.

During mating season, they perform a talon-grappling display where the pair will fly high before one flips upside down and tries to grapple the other's talons with its own. If successful, the two then plunge cartwheeling before separating as they approach the ground.

Singapore’s largest common raptor or bird of prey, with a body length of 60 to 70 cm and a wing span of about 2 m.

The second series of Singapore’s currency notes, issued from 1976 to 1984, featured birds. The white-bellied sea eagle was depicted on the front of the highest denomination note – the $10,000 note

2008, two eagles fell into the balcony of a residential unit in Jalan Kayu after an aerial fight for territory. One of the birds died, while the other was treated for its injuries at the Jurong Bird Park.

Black-shouldered kites form monogamous pairs. Aerial courtship displays involve single and mutual high circling flight, and the male may fly around with wings held high rapidly fluttering, known as flutter-flight. Courting males dive at the female, feeding her in mid-flight. The female grabs food from the male's talons with hers while flipping upside-down. They may lock talons and tumble downwards in a ritualised version of grappling, but release just before landing.

These small raptors have a wingspan of less than 1 metre across.

Black-shouldered kites are often seen hovering above fields using their excellent eyesight to find small prey such as mice or grasshoppers.

Not only are these beautiful raptors popular with birders and nature enthusiasts, but these specialist predators also fulfill an important role of keeping rodent populations down.

As the common name suggests the grey-headed fish eagle is a specialist piscivore, which preys upon live fish and scavenges dead fish and occasionally reptiles and terrestrial birds and small mammals.

A group of of bird photographers in Singapore have been caught on video allegedly using live fish stuffed with Styrofoam bits to bait critically-endangered Grey-headed Fish Eagles.

The purpose of using bait was to be able to capture action shots of the bird swooping in for the kill. Doing so, however, presented a few problems. First, the fish had to be alive and struggling otherwise the fish eagles would ignore it. Second, the fish needed to be afloat at the water’s surface so the photographers would know where to point their lenses in anticipation of an eagle’s approach

These photographers came up with an utterly horrifying solution: A photographer used a twig he picked off the ground to stuff pieces of white material into the fish’s mouth. These were polystyrene foam chunks (also known as styrofoam), used to ensure that the fish does not sink but instead remains afloat on the water’s surface.