Apple Valley High School officials are being careful not to disturb an osprey family — mom, dad and newly hatched chicks — nesting in the lights above the football stadium’s 50-yard line.

Ospreys, also known as “fish hawks,” are fish-eating raptors with wingspans up to 6 feet.

Apple Valley has moved two home football games to different times and relocated boys and girls soccer games from the stadium to another on-campus field.

“We had someone from the DNR come out, and we’ve learned that those birds are federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act,” Apple Valley athletic director Cory Hanson said. “We cannot move their nest, nor can we turn our lights on, because it might endanger them. Those lights get really hot.”

Minneapolis Roosevelt AD Adam Flanders said the school had a hawk’s nest in a cell tower last year, adding that it hasn’t been an issue this summer.

“I get about five of these a year, some years more and some less,” said Heidi Cyr, the DNR’s nongame wildlife permit coordinator. “It just kind of depends on the birds and how vigilant the schools are at keeping the birds off these fixtures.”

Apple Valley’s football team will play its Aug. 29 opener at Rochester John Marshall, as scheduled. Week 2 would have been a Friday night game against Waconia, but it’s been moved to noon Saturday.

Two weeks later, Apple Valley will play a Friday home game against Hastings at 4 p.m.

“As long as I don’t have to turn the lights on, we’re good,” Hanson said.

The school has been using drones twice per week to check on the nest. The three chicks have hatched, and the parents have relocated to a nearby nest, still dropping by to bring food.

The chicks are “walking around outside of the nest, and so they’re kind of getting the courage up to maybe take that first flight or two,” Cyr said. “… That’s a great sign for Apple Valley, that they’re going to be leaving soon.”

Tampering with an occupied osprey nest is against Minnesota and federal law. The penalties are usually fines, said Kristin Hall, the DNR’s nongame wildlife program supervisor.

Just what are these river hawks doing in Apple Valley in the first place?

“They’re actually fish hawks,” Hall said. “They solely survive on fish. And we are a land of many lakes.

“So if you look at Apple Valley and you look at where they’re located at the high school, there are three big lakes just right there. And then, as the osprey flies, they’re not very far from the Minnesota River, so there’s plenty of foraging habitat for them.”

For now, the Apple Valley Eagles are sharing space with these raptors. “Friday Night Lights” can wait. Apple Valley also has home games scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 25, vs. St. Thomas Academy, and Friday, Oct. 10, vs. Mankato East.

The early-season rescheduling “is really tough, especially for the football team,” Hanson said. “You know, it’s ‘Friday Night Lights’ for a reason. And the soccer teams as well. Not to be able to play in your stadium, especially those seniors.

“But we’re trying to remain positive and trying to be creative so we can find ways to create a varsity experience for them nonetheless.”