#Raptors nest on Universal Studios’ raptor-themed coaster

Reality mimics movies.

Since construction on Universal’s Islands of Adventure Jurassic World VelociCoaster began in 2020 in Orlando, Fla., birds of prey have been attempting to nest in it.

“What looks to be an osprey has made its nest at the very top of the Jurassic Coaster’s top hat,” local blogger Alicia Stella tweeted in August 2020, kicking off documentation of the fowl saga. “Yes, that does mean there is an actual raptor sitting atop the raptor coaster.”

Other bloggers descended upon the story and soon the bird’s life was well-documented in near-daily social media posts and pics, Vanity Fair reported. 

“Osprey with a mobile order of fish. In a tree at Islands of Adventure,” anonymous theme park photographer @Bioreconstruct captioned a Feb. 25 bird shot. 

“Osprey landing at a nesting platform as its mate looks upward. Across the street from Islands of Adventure,” they wrote of a March 1 image. 

On a March 11 image, they spied the “VelociCoaster Osprey and friend at the nesting platform across the street from Islands of Adventure.”

The amusement park’s attempts to dissuade the protected creature from nesting on the track of what will soon be a 70 mph theme ride have included removing their branches — which it just brought back — and placing a blue tarp on the location they’d been nesting. The birds simply incorporated it into their nest.

“The next morning, there’s a big hole and a new nest in this, like, plastic-wrapped little home they made for her,” Stella told Vanity Fair. 

Thankfully, the osprey — and a mate she appears to have met during the attempted coaster occupation — have recently given up on the amusement park and found safer shelter on a nesting platform nearby.