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.

lencho - 5-3-2026 at 11:16 AM

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".

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?







lencho - 5-3-2026 at 03:17 PM

Quote: Originally posted by pauldavidmena  
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.


My understanding of what you've shown there is that "zopilote" is a Central American and Mexican term, which in "generic" Spanish, is known as a "buitre". Not that buitre is the regional term.

FWIW, I just asked a Paceño biologist friend and he said for him they're interchangable.

Though if I were insulting a person, I'd defer to "buitre"; more of a literary register. ;)