Bird
Osprey
Pandion haliaetus
A summer resident that nests in Virginia. Found in all 133 counties and cities, across 26 habitats.
- Here
- Summer and on migration
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 26
At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Summer and on migration
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 26
- Habitat models
- Summer, Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Virginia 26
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
1 of 26
Streams, rivers and their banks
Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)
Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.
Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.
Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.
Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone
Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
Granite and other acidic rock outcrops
Bare or thin-soil rock on granite, gneiss, sandstone, quartzite and similar acidic rock, including granite flatrocks and domes.
Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.
Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.
Steep, sun-baked slopes of loose shale with sparse oaks and Virginia pine and their own endemic wildflowers. Linked only where the source names shale barrens; calcareous shale stays with the limestone glades.
Tree plantations and managed pine
Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.
Other habitats in its models (148)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia.
- Open Water (Aquaculture) Summer and winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Sea Island Beach Summer and winter.
- Central Interior Calcareous Cliff and Talus Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Central Interior Acidic Cliff and Talus Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Juniper Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Crosstimbers Oak Forest and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Ouachita Montane Oak Forest Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- South Florida Hardwood Hammock Summer and winter.
- Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Summer and winter.
- Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Summer and winter.
- Central and South Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Chenier and Upper Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Mississippi River Alluvial Plain Dry-Mesic Loess Slope Forest Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East-Central Texas Plains Post Oak Savanna and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
- South Florida Pine Rockland Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Summer and winter.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Summer and winter.
- Edwards Plateau Limestone Savanna and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Mississippi Delta Maritime Forest Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Western Great Plains Wooded Draw and Ravine Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Southern Crowley's Ridge Mesic Loess Slope Forest Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Flatwoods Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Maritime Forest Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest - Offsite Pine Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Central Interior Highlands Dry Acidic Glade and Barrens Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Forest Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Acadian Low-Elevation Spruce-Fir-Hardwood Forest Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Sandhill Oak and Shortleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Northern Crowley's Ridge Sand Forest Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-Line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Northeastern Interior Pine Barrens Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East-Central Texas Plains Pine Forest and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Bluestem Woodland Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- North-Central Interior Oak Savanna Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- North-Central Oak Barrens Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Nashville Basin Limestone Glade Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Central Interior Highlands Calcareous Glade and Barrens Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Summer and winter.
- Western Great Plains Mesquite Woodland and Shrubland Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Treed Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Clethra Modifier Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer and winter.
- South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Summer and winter.
- Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
- Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- South Florida Mangrove Swamp Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Summer and winter.
- South Florida Bayhead Swamp Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer and winter.
- South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Summer and winter.
- South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie Summer and winter.
- Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
- South Florida Cypress Dome Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome Summer and winter.
- Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Summer and winter.
- South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
- Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer and winter.
- Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer and winter.
- Tamaulipan Riparian Systems Summer and winter.
- Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
- Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- Red River Large Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
- Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- South Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loblolly-Hardwood Flatwoods Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Flatwoods Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods Summer and winter.
Seasons in Virginia
- Migratory: does not nest here, in 72 of 133 counties and cities.
- Summer: nests here, in 88 of 133 counties and cities.
Also found in this habitat
Plants 1180
Plants named in NatureServe descriptions of these habitats that grow in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food.
- Red MapleAcer rubrum
- Pignut HickoryCarya glabra
- White OakQuercus alba
- Flowering DogwoodBenthamidia florida
- Mountain LaurelKalmia latifolia
- American BeechFagus grandifolia
- White AshFraxinus americana
- TuliptreeLiriodendron tulipifera
- SourwoodOxydendrum arboreum
- Virginia CreeperParthenocissus quinquefolia
- SweetgumLiquidambar styraciflua
- Loblolly PinePinus taeda
- Chestnut OakQuercus montana
- Mockernut HickoryCarya tomentosa
- Virginia PinePinus virginiana
- Christmas FernPolystichum acrostichoides
- Northern SpicebushLindera benzoin
- BlackgumNyssa sylvatica
- Southern Red OakQuercus falcata
- Post OakQuercus stellata
- Sun-facing ConeflowerRudbeckia heliopsidis
- Shagbark HickoryCarya ovata
- American GinsengPanax quinquefolius
- Scarlet OakQuercus coccinea
Wildlife 259
Other animals whose habitat models include the same habitats in Virginia. Not sighting records.
- Wood ThrushHylocichla mustelina
- American RedstartSetophaga ruticilla
- Bank SwallowRiparia riparia
- Barred OwlStrix varia
- Red-headed WoodpeckerMelanerpes erythrocephalus
- Snowy EgretEgretta thula
- White-breasted NuthatchSitta carolinensis
- White-eyed VireoVireo griseus
- Acadian FlycatcherEmpidonax virescens
- American Black DuckAnas rubripes
- American CootFulica americana
- American WoodcockScolopax minor
- Black-capped ChickadeePoecile atricapillus
- Blue-headed VireoVireo solitarius
- Canada GooseBranta canadensis
- Great Blue HeronArdea herodias
- Hooded WarblerWilsonia citrina
- Indigo BuntingPasserina cyanea
- Northern ParulaParula americana
- Northern Saw-whet OwlAegolius acadicus
- Northern ShovelerAnas clypeata
- Orange-crowned WarblerVermivora celata
- OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
- Rose-breasted GrosbeakPheucticus ludovicianus
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NatureServe Explorer, CC BY 4.0. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Osprey
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)