Jabebo Osprey Earrings

Description

Our Jabebo Osprey Earrings celebrate the joy of life and nature and are made with an eye to both.

It’s hard to believe in 2025 that Osprey were once scarce in the US. These raptors specialize in catching (and eating) fish, and are amazingly good at it. They are now common along both the coasts and interior bodies of water, where the birds and their nests are easily spotted. Up until 1950, Ospreys were one of the most widespread and common birds of prey in the US.

It was on the shoreline here in CT, where a group of concerned citizens (including Roger Tory Peterson, considered the grandfather of the modern field guide) discovered that Osprey eggs contained an alarming amount of DDT.

Roger Tory Peterson first observed the decline of young ospreys in the late 1950s near his home in Old Lyme, Connecticut By 1957, he was experimenting to find the cause of the ospreys’ reproductive failure, which he eventually linked to DDT causing brittle eggshells.The adults had ingested fish that had DDT in them. As a result of ingesting DDT, Osprey eggs that were laid were quite brittle and were crushed by the parents. This discovery led directly to the ban of DDT in 1972, and Ospreys came back from the brink.

Cornell lab of Ornithology estimates that, “an Osprey may log more than 160,000 migration miles during its 15-to-20-year lifetime.” Here in CT one of our local Audubon Societies has enlisted volunteer Osprey nest watchers to monitor nests and file statistics at the end of the breeding season. Many people take part and have helped with this important project.

Each earring is made to differ slightly from its mate while maintaining a unified theme. Every time you wear them, spotting the differences will be a source of amusement for those around you. celebrate the joy of life and nature and are made with an eye to both. Each earring is made to differ slightly from its mate while maintaining a unified theme.

Every time you wear these earrings, spotting the differences will be a source of amusement for those around you.

These earrings are made from cereal boxes – an excellent way to reuse them. Cereal boxes are generally not recycled, but these earrings offer a way to do so and make something beautiful. Two layers of cereal cardboard are fused together as a base for the intricately detailed images, which are then covered with several layers of a water resistant finish. The end result is an earring that is super light-weight yet durable and able to take some exposure to water. On the back of each, you can still see the colorful patterns of the cereal boxes.

Jabebo Earrings began in 1995 after developing a technique of reproducing small miniature images that can be displayed from earring wires. It quickly became a primary creative outlet as they won praise among scientist and teacher friends. The inspiration for these earrings has come from visiting nature centers, wildlife refuges, parks, gardens, museums and all kinds of other interesting locations.

• Surgical steel ear wires