Support Us
We hope that you enjoy watching the osprey grow each year as much as we do. Keeping the camera above the Knight Law Center up and running carries yearly maintenance costs. If you enjoy watching the daily antics of this little family, please consider helping us keep this quiet eye into the osprey experience by giving a gift to the law school. Thank you!
Osprey Facts
Scientific Name: Pandion haliaetus
Size: Weight: 2.5-4.5 pounds | Wingspan: ~ 56 inches
Habitat: Lakes, reservoirs, estuaries, and large rivers
- The maximum life span of osprey in the wild is estimated at 25 years.
- About 98 percent of an osprey’s diet is comprised of fish although other prey items may be taken such as small birds.
- Osprey exhibit strong nest site fidelity. Breeding pairs usually return to the same nest territory year after year to breed.
- Each pair mates for life.
- Courtship activities, breeding, egg laying and incubation occurs March through May.
- Osprey raise one brood per year, with 1 to 4 eggs (mean = 3) laid. Eggs hatch in about 38 days.
- Young osprey fly at about 52 days after hatching, typically making their first flights in late July and early August.
- An osprey pair raising two nestlings consumes about 375 pounds of fish during the breeding season.
- Osprey migrate south to wintering grounds beginning in late August. Many winter in coastal areas of Mexico such as Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta.
*Source: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
About the Osprey Nest at Oregon Law
Eugene is known for its rain and clouds – but not for fish dropping out of the sky. Osprey legend is that in 2014, while the birds were nesting at the historic Hayward field, they dropped their lunch – which happened to be trout – on unsuspecting runners. It was at that point in time that the University had the nest moved across the street to its current location at Oregon Law. The Ospreys soon adapted, and within two weeks, they moved to their new nest.
The nest currently rests on a 52-foot-galvanized steel lamp post retrofitted to be a platform. In 2018, the School of Law installed a video camera atop the osprey nest perch to offer a bird’s eye view in real time of the nesting osprey. This unique view was made possible through gifts by friends and alumni in honor of retired Dean Margaret “Margie” Paris, the first woman to hold the deanship at Oregon Law. Since being installed, more than 170,000 visitors have viewed the live stream.
Join our Osprey Group Page
Our new Osprey Group page on Facebook is the perfect place to join the thousands of people who visit this site each year. If you are an educator or Osprey enthusiast, this will be the place for you to share information or just see what your fellow Osprey watchers are up to!