Watching the nestlings grow and take flight brings joy to amateur birders across the university
Tucked away in a secluded courtyard on the second floor of the Dental School Building, two parent vultures have returned to raise their newest brood.
The parents may not realize it, but over the years, they’ve drawn much attention from captivated members of the university community, eliciting smiles and uniting colleagues interested in the well-being of the close-knit family.
In fact, the vultures have become such an attraction, they spurred the creation of an informal vulture club in past years, bringing staff together for excursions to check on the vulture family’s progress.
It started with a coffee run
What began as an almost daily break to get coffee turned into a gathering of friends with a common hobby: observing the black vultures as they attentively raised their newest brood.
“Our colleague, she was very creative and she loved [the black vultures],” recalled vulture club member Christopher Espinoza, director of admissions, School of Nursing. “She liked Starbucks a lot, so we went [there] probably every day. That’s how it kind of started. On the walk is when we would stop and see them.”
The colleague suggested that the group of six give the unofficial campus mascots backstories and names.
“The parents were named Vendetta and Fabian and had a backstory that they met during Fiesta,” said vulture club member Natalia Arandia, associate budget analyst, Department of Emergency Medicine. They also called the garden area where the vultures nested Rancho Ojo de Buitre — loosely translated to “Eye of the Vulture Ranch” — and named the 2021 babies Beto and Mari.
The backstories helped the club members feel especially connected to their feathered friends.
“For me, coming up with the whole backstory made it more interesting because then it felt like they were part of the family,” Espinoza said.
For Arandia, being a member of the vulture club was a bonding experience as a new employee in 2021.
“I think that helped for us to become [closer and] more of a group,” Arandia said.
Next came a party
The group was so invested in the vulture family they held a baby shower for the brood in 2021. Sitting at the small table in the courtyard, far enough away so as not to disturb the new family, club members brought cupcakes and donuts to celebrate.
The vulture club was most active in 2021 and 2022. As time passed, some members moved on from the university. Those remaining on campus visit the vultures periodically and continue to delight in seeing the transformation of the nestlings each year.
“Even when they’re babies and you see their feathers start to change and you see them walking around and then trying to fly, [it’s] just cool to see them growing up really before our eyes,” Espinoza said.
Having that shared experience provided not only a sense of belonging within the club, but also a special respect for the black vultures.
“Watching the family gives you a whole different idea about vultures,” Arandia said.
Watch this video of the black vulture parent feeding its young in 2021.
Watch this video of one of the nestlings honing its flying technique.