HI:
vultures go to college!

--
Ian Paulsen
Bainbridge Island, WA, USA
A.K.A.: "Birdbooker"
"Rallidae all the way!"

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 20 May 2004 08:37:31 -0700
From: Jim Stevenson <natrix at AIRMAIL.NET>
To: TEXBIRDS at LISTSERV.UH.EDU
Subject: [TEXBIRDS] vulture nest at UH CL :)

---> Texbird help file http://www.texbirds.org <---

Wednesday I interview a nature enthusiast who had quite a story to tell. In
nearly 50 years of field work, I have only seen one nest of the Black
Vulture (in a cave) and one of the Turkey Vulture (in a silo). This lady,
named Brenda Klimt, has had one regularly for thirteen (!) years at her work
site at UH Clear Lake.

She works as a groundskeeper, and apparently a pair of Black Vultures began
nesting on the roof of the Arbor Building each spring around the beginning
on the 1990s. When the fabric of the roof changed, the birds altered the
nest site to one of the flower beds inside the building, where they raises
2-3 chicks annually. The birds hiss and growl as people pass by, although
Brenda says they have learned to accept her more than strangers. That would
worry me.

One of the staples of its diet is squirrels which Brenda picks up dead on
the UH campus roads. The mother devours all but the tail, feet and vertebral
column, later ralphing it up for her lucky chicks. I am personally glad to
see our universities recycling.

Brenda was certainly a big hit with me, especially when she has apparently
named the vulture couple Bill and Michelle, after the President and Vice
President of the university.

Jim

P.S. I am convinced a Black Vulture nested this spring at San Bernard NWR in
the inaccessible scrub between the nature trail in the woods and the
impoundment.

For answers to questions about this list, as well as current Texas
Birding Links, visit the Texbirds Reference Page at http://www.texbirds.org