Chicks Raised in Tom & Mary Ward Hall

During the spring semester, Eric Sanchez Lopez ‘21 and his roommates left their window open in Tom & Mary Ward Hall to soon find out that birds had let themselves in. 

“We kept hearing loud chirps in the mornings and just thought it was the birds on campus being loud,” Sanchez Lopez said. “I decided to look out the window one of those days and I noticed a bird had started building a nest on the window.” 

Sanchez Lopez and his three other roommates did not want to disturb the birds so they allowed them to build a nest in between the window and the screen on the exterior of the window. The birds continued growing the nest and it got larger over the course of the semester. 

“They ended up laying 5 eggs and before I left campus, 2 babies hatched and I just learned another one hatched since I've been home,” Sanchez Lopez said. 

As the semester was winding down, the eggs laid by the birds began to hatch. Two of the eggs haven’t hatched, but the apartment window on the North End of campus now has three chicks living in it. 

“Me and my roommates are just worried about what will happen to the birds after we leave during the summer especially since we are graduating this weekend,” Sanchez Lopez said. 

The apartment of seniors is not sure what Housing will do with the chicks and the bird nest once they graduate and leave on the weekend of May 30. Marist does not have specific policies outlined and the roommates were not trying to keep the chicks a secret from Housing. 

“The Resident Director (RD) of ward hall was fine with the birds when we told them about them, but we don't know what Marist or housing will do when they discover them,” Sanchez Lopez said. 

Housing did not immediately respond to requests for a comment on what will be done to the chicks once the students leave Tom & Mary Ward Hall for the semester. 

Chicks Raised in Tom & Mary Ward Hall. Source: Eric Sanchez Lopez ‘21