Eugene, Oregon. June 7, 2021.

The votes are in and have been calculated! The osprey chicks that hatched on top of the Knight Law Center at the University of Oregon now have names. To honor the native land and peoples, the osprey chicks have been named Tauna, Gemet, and Pshin. The University of Oregon is located on Kalapuya Ilihi, the traditional indigenous homeland of the Kalapuya people, and the osprey names mean one, two, and three in the Kalapuyan language.

Although we have given the chicks names, osprey chicks do not typically have identifying marks. Even male and female birds are usually similar in size and markings. Typically, the larger chick is born first. For purposes of identification, the largest bird is Tauna, the second largest is Gemet, and the smallest bird is Pshin.

This year we had over 150 responses from the public to help name the osprey. A rank-choice voting system was used. In this system, voters ranked the names by preference (first, second, and third) on their ballot. The candidate with the majority (more than 50%) of first-choice votes wins. In this case, Tauna, Gemet, and Pshin won the majority. Some other popular name choices were McKenzie, Willamette, and Umpqua; and Lillis, Autzen, and Warsaw (LAW acronym.) Thank you to all of those who voted. We know you love the osprey as much as the law school does!

The public can stay updated on the osprey family by joining the Oregon Law Osprey Group, and by watching the Live Osprey Cam.

Rhianna Comito, Communications Assistant at University of Oregon School of Law