The male and female osprey that live along the Yampa River next to the Botanic Park have returned to their nest. It is the 10th consecutive year the nesting pair have raised their family and called the Yampa Valley home.
Press Release from the City of Steamboat Springs; March 26, 2025.
Osprey Return Signals Spring Just Around Corner
10th Consecutive Year the Nestling Pair Has Return to Botanic Park Site
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, COLORADO–March 26, 2025-Swooping into their summer mountain home, the male and female osprey have arrived back to the nest between the Yampa River and Yampa River Botanic Park for another season of raising a family.
Executive Director Jennifer MacNeil was on the phone in the Trillium House, looking out the window, and watched the beloved male osprey fly upriver, pass the nest, then turn around and land in the cottonwood trees on the west side of the river.
The male typically arrives first to spruce up the nest; however, the female flew in shortly after. This year’s arrival is one day before the birds have returned the past two years. It marks the 10th consecutive year the pair has called the nest home.
Ospreys three years or older usually mate for life, and their spring courtship begins a five-month period when they raise their young.
The birds build large, conspicuous nests (also known as eyries) using sticks, branches, and other materials, often on trees, cliffs, or even man-made structures like utility poles or artificial platform such as the one adjacent to the park.
Nests are usually in open areas near large bodies of water or rivers, where they can easily catch fish, their primary food source.
Once a sprawling horse pasture, the six-acre Yampa River Botanic Park is now home to more than 60 unique gardens, thousands of plant species, animals, and hosts special events of all shapes and sizes. An innovative experiment in private/public partnerships, the Botanic Park is free and open to the public from dawn to dusk, May 1 through October 31.
For information, visit www.yrbp.org, or contact the Yampa River Botanic Park via email at office@yrbp.org or 970-846-5172. Share your photos of the osprey using the hashtag: #steamboatsospreyfamily