BajaNomad

vulture

pauldavidmena - 5-3-2026 at 10:53 AM

We've got vultures in our backyard - which also happens to be a herring run around this time of the year. Here's a photo taken a few days ago of a mated pair, with the male trying to impress the female with his wingspan.



But I digress. I've heard several different translations of "vulture" in Spanish. My favorite - mostly because I like the way it sounds - is zopilote, but according to WordReference.com, [img]buitre[/img] is more commonly used in Mexico. I don't recall hearing either during my visits to Baja, so I'm wondering which scavenger reigns supreme.

pauldavidmena - 5-3-2026 at 11:49 AM

Here is a link to the initial request for the Spanish translation of "vulture." It defaults to buitre. However if I reverse the request and try to translate zopilote to English, the result shows that it translates to "vulture," but indicates that buitre is more common to Mexico.



Our "neighbors" are vultures and not buzzards because they have no head features, but that's besides the point. ;)

surfhat - 5-3-2026 at 12:50 PM

Raptors, as a species, have always fascinated me.

In north coastal San Diego county I have seen, or had seen, ouch! Red tailed Hawks and owls next door.

The nice home that came still allowed a very few sightings compared to the open field it had been.

Every sighting of owls and hawks is a gift.

Ospreys in Baja reign supreme.

If anyone cares to see an inhabited live nest up close, take a walk down the long pier at the gray whale center on the inner lagoon just south of GN.

A birdwatchers dream!

They are habituated enough to allow us within 10' of their occupied nest. Occupied, specifically during the whale season that I cannot resist every year.

Where else, for you bird watchers out there, can you get so close to a live raptors nest without them flying off?







pauldavidmena - 5-4-2026 at 04:43 AM

Thanks for the reply! They're certainly fascinating creatures, graceful in flight and downright intimidating up close. There are 6 of them hanging out on the Centerville River between our house and the estuary that opens up into Nantucket Sound. We think two of them are a mated pair, and that the others might be juveniles.

Fun fact: I've learned from Wikipedia that a group of vultures is known as a "committee."

Pablito1 - 5-4-2026 at 06:40 AM

In Peru I think that vultures are commonly called gallinazo.

pauldavidmena - 5-4-2026 at 07:43 AM

gallinazo shows up in Wordreference.com as one of many translations of "vulture." Those creepy creatures certainly get a lot of attention!

RnR - 5-4-2026 at 08:09 AM

On the East Cape and around the La Paz area, the only word for vultures that I have heard is "Zopilote".

Also, check out the logo for the ice cream shop in San Bartolo, (just north of Los Barriles on Mex 1) -



Zopilotes.jpg - 72kB

Vulture

geraldalexander7 - 5-11-2026 at 08:57 PM

Quote: Originally posted by lencho  
Quote: Originally posted by pauldavidmena  
...to WordReference.com, [img]buitre[/img] is more commonly used in Mexico. I don't recall hearing either during my visits to Baja, so I'm wondering which scavenger reigns supreme.

That statement from Wordreference, surprises me; could you please give a link to that entry?

Though I've heard both, "zopilote" comes from the Nahuatl and I would assume it's more "Mexican".


Zopilote is what I commonly hear in Mag Bay/Puerto San Carlos/ La Paz

pauldavidmena - 5-12-2026 at 08:36 AM

Zopilote it is! We did see quite a few of them when we last visited El Pescadero in February..

Here on Cape Cod, they are in abundance because our herring runs produce a lot of fish kill, and the vultures provide a very crude cleanup.

AKgringo - 5-12-2026 at 09:09 AM

This is the time of the year that sport fishing on the west side of the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska produce a ton of salmon and halibut carcasses south of the Kenai River.

Bald eagles perform much of the cleanup service there!

surabi - 5-12-2026 at 02:52 PM

Quote: Originally posted by pauldavidmena  


Here on Cape Cod, they are in abundance because our herring runs produce a lot of fish kill, and the vultures provide a very crude cleanup.


A bit off-topic, but one night as I was heading up to bed, I noticed something on the kitchen floor against a wall and went over to inspect. At first, I couldn't even tell what it was, because it was totally covered in ants. Then I realized it was a dead mouse my cat had obviously killed.
It was late, I was tired and thought "I'll deal with it in the morning" and went to bed. In the morning, there wasn't a trace of it aside from a tiny blood smear on the floor. The ants had completely done away with it and moved on.
Gotta love nature's free clean-up crews.


[Edited on 5-12-2026 by surabi]