By Alice Martin

Friends of a Feather

When you see a flock of large black birds with “v” shaped wings soaring on the thermals, they are most likely turkey vultures and there must be something dead on the ground. They are nature’s sanitation crew, cleaning up the forests and roadsides bite by bite with their strong, hooked beaks.  The olfactory part of their brain is more highly developed than any other bird, enabling them to locate dead animals from up to a mile away; however, they are a little picky and won’t eat extremely rotted carcasses, preferring those that are from 12 to 24 hours old. 

Turkey vultures are the only scavenger birds that can’t kill their own prey.  Their feet look more like the feet of a chicken instead of a hawk or eagle and are useless when it comes to ripping into their prey.  However, that powerful, hooked beak can tear into to the toughest hide.      

The turkey vulture’s head is bald for a purpose.  Since they completely insert their head into the body of whatever they’re eating, it is necessary for them to be able to clean their head and that bald head is easier to clean.  Carrion would stick to feathers.  Their eating style can also result in a “plugged” nose so they pick their nose with their feet to remove bits of their meal and also bacteria which could interfere with their sense of smell.

When in flight a flock of vultures are called a “venue”, but when they are on the ground, they are appropriately called a “wake” since they are surrounding a dead creature.  They are impossible to miss, being 2-1/2 feet tall and having a wing span of six feet.  You may have noticed that sometimes when a wake of vultures is on and around a dead animal, some of them seem to be just watching rather than eating.  That’s because they have a “pecking order” with the dominant birds eating first.  Sort of vulture table manners.  

The turkey vultures stomach acids are extremely acidic so they can digest just about everything.  This also allows them to eat carcasses tainted with anthrax, tuberculosis and rabies without getting sick.  Thus, they provide an essential service for the health of our ecosystem; without them, carcasses would accumulate and diseases would spread to other animals and birds. 

They have a couple of other interesting behaviors.  For instance, to cool off in hot weather, they will urinate or defecate on their legs.   As a defense mechanism, turkey vultures may vomit on another bird or animal…or human…that gets too close.  Considering what they eat, that would be an extraordinarily unpleasant experience.  

If you are of a certain age, you may remember that back to the 1970’s, you rarely saw a turkey vulture.  Their population certainly has proliferated to the point that they are now common, both in the sky and on the edges of roads perched on carrion, such as dead deer.  In fact, part of the reason their population has expanded northward is because of the growth of highway systems and a large number of deer.  More highways, more vehicles on the road, more deer hit by vehicles, more food for the vultures.

So to sum it all up, turkey vultures are not pretty or cute, Instead of singing melodic songs they grunt and hiss, they urinate and defecate on their own legs, they eat rotten stuff, and vomit to defend themselves, but in spite of all of those rather unattractive, smelly traits, they perform a valuable service to our environment and, oh, when you see them soaring on the thermals without a flap of their slender wings, they are breathtakingly beautiful.  If only we could fly like that. 

Now enjoy your lunch!  Until next time, happy birding.