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Ospreys Raised Three Chicks in Switzerland’s First Breeding in 112 Years

Osprey bringing food to a nest
Conservation · Reintroductions & translocations

Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) bred successfully in Switzerland in 2026 for the first time in 112 years. A male released through the Nos Oiseaux reintroduction project and an unringed female of unknown origin raised three chicks, all of which had fledged when the project announced the result on 12 August.

The pair had already formed in summer 2025, when the female was still immature. After migrating separately, both returned to Switzerland in March 2026. The female laid the first of three eggs on 19 April, hatching began on 25 May, and the three young were ringed on 6 July. Measurements indicated two females and one male.

The released male returned to breed

The breeding is a direct milestone for a reintroduction programme that began after Switzerland had lost its nesting ospreys. The project uses a method known as hacking: young birds are moved to Switzerland at about six weeks old, kept in an aviary until they are ready to fly, and then released and fed locally until migration. Because ospreys tend to return to the region they regard as their birthplace, the method is designed to create a new breeding tradition. The 2026 male shows that at least one released bird returned as an adult and bred successfully with an unringed female.

The nest was watched from more than 600 metres away to reduce disturbance. After fledging, the young remained in the region and continued to receive fish from the male. The project expected them to leave on migration around the end of August or beginning of September.

Switzerland’s previous documented osprey breeding dated from 1914. The three fledglings are therefore the first ospreys hatched in Switzerland in more than a century, and the breeding is the first directly linked to the modern reintroduction effort.

Sources and image credit

  1. Nos Oiseaux — Balbuzard pêcheur: first successful breeding in Switzerland in 112 yearsPrimary project update. Confirms the released male, unringed female of unknown origin, three eggs beginning 19 April, hatching beginning 25 May, ringing on 6 July and the use of an artificial platform in the Three Lakes region.
  2. Swissinfo — First Osprey nesting pair in Switzerland in 112 yearsNational news-service report published 12 August 2026. Provides the complete hatching interval, chick sexes and survival to the announcement, translocation history, number of released birds and project coordinator’s explanation of juvenile migration risk.

Image: Rhododendrites / Wikimedia Commons — osprey (Pandion haliaetus) bringing food to a nest at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, New York, USA; representative image of breeding behaviour, not one of the Swiss birds · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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