SANDPOINT — A team effort led to the successful rescue of two osprey chicks Tuesday after a passerby witnessed the deaths of the parents the day before.

"Had it not been for the strange account by the eyewitness, none of this would have unfolded," said Janie Veltkamp, director of Birds of Prey Northwest.

Noah Harvey was passing by Memorial Field on Monday when he saw the collision of the adult osprey and immediately notified authorities. Harvey said one bird appeared to have died on impact, while the other was initially still moving its head, but stopped moving after a few minutes.

Veltkamp said some people have speculated the adult pair collided with one another out of aggression, but Veltkamp said it is her opinion they were defending their nest from a third bird, miscalculating their course and colliding in a "freak accident."

"These osprey are monogamous and they mate for life," Veltkamp said.

"They have a lot invested in that nest. By the time they build the nest, produlate, incubate eggs for 35 days, then raise the young, it's a huge investment, so they do whatever they can to protect the nest."

It took about 60 phone calls, Veltkamp said, but a rescue of the chicks was organized in conjunction with Kim Woodruff, director of Sandpoint Parks and Recreation, Dennis McIntire with Bestway Tree Service, and BOPNW volunteers Judi Lundak and her daughter, Mya Jinright.

After learning of the eyewitness account, Veltkamp said Lundak and Jinright set up as ground observers at the nest site, for "hours on end," to confirm no parents were there.

The chicks are only about two-and-a-half weeks old, and Veltkamp said they were initially in shock and hungry after spending half a day and all night without parental care. They are now stable and eating every two to three hours, but she said they are "not out of the woods yet."

If all continues to go well, the chicks will be placed with a foster mom at the BOPNW facility on Saturday.

"There is a problem with raptors when they are hand fed by humans," Veltkamp said. "They imprint on humans and think food comes from them, so we want to avoid this at all cost. We keep foster birds at our facility, so when we get orphan birds in, so when we get orphans in, whether they are eagles or osprey, they go in with a like species — so they will grow up thinking they are osprey that want fish."

Osprey typically leave the nest at eight to 10 weeks, and since they will not be imprinted, the chicks will eventually be released.

Veltkamp said she would like to thank all of those who helped out in the rescue, including Lundak, Jinright, McIntire and Chris Bessler with Keokee, who helped coordinate with Bestway Tree Service. With the nest at 100 feet high, the Bestway truck is one of only a few in the entire region that can reach it.

"There are a whole lot of other people, but they were the critical components I needed to get the rescue completed," Veltkamp said.

The chicks were located in the Ontario Street nest at Memorial Field, not the one equipped with a webcam, which can be viewed online at ospreys.sandpointonline.com.

Established in 1993, BOPNW is a federally permitted facility that provides medical treatment and rehabilitation to injured birds of prey with the ultimate goal of returning them to the wild. The nonprofit organization also promotes stewardship and conservation of raptors and owls through educational programs with live birds of prey. For information or to donate, visit birdsofpreynorthwest.org.

Veltkamp said there is a "good population" of osprey and eagles in the Sandpoint and surrounding area, and sometimes they get injured and need help. In the event of an injured bird of prey, contact BOPNW at 208-245-1367.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.