At first look, turkey vultures, known colloquially as buzzards, are a study in how a large bird can soar quite magnificently yet have a disgustingly foul taste for what to eat. The birds dine almost exclusively on rotten meat from animals that have died in the countyside.
Buzzards have large bodies and powerful wings, but they are anything but attractive. Their heads are featherless and blood red with a beak that allows them to rip into carrion. That is particularly true during summer months, when turkey vultures are local residents in force.
Buzzards migrate to Central and South America when winter sets over most of the United States and Canada, flying as far south as Tierra Del Fuego at the southern tip of Argentina, although any number in the vast migration may drop off along the way. The migration started a couple of weeks ago when hot weather and the prolonged drought broke. Vultures packed their bags and said, “Adios.”
The vast migration illustrates that the birds have an unspoken means of knowing when it’s time to assemble in flights of hundreds, and sometimes even thousands. It rivals the massive flights of geese and ducks that often occur simultaneously.
They work their way south, stopping off now and then depending on the weather.
TURKEY VULTURES aid farmers more than most folks may realize.
They have strong acid in their stomachs, which permits them to safely eat decaying flesh that may contain toxins, viruses or bacteria that could trigger a disease breakout among farm animals. More often, livestock are safe in the same areas as dead animals, but some other creatures that reside in the countryside may eat what they shouldn’t. A nosey calf might get too close and get infected.
As migrating birds, buzzards are off-limits to hunters.
Turkey vultures are categorized as raptors but lack the abilities normally associated with those fast-flying birds. Also, raptors dive onto their prey — alive and moving, not sequestered in a ditch after being struck by a vehicle — and have strong claws. A turkey vulture’s claw strength is less powerful but well-suited for dead meat.
I HAVE come to enjoy watching turkey vultures. They put on quite a show, soaring close to the ground, twisting and turning around obstacles. They fly many miles each day in search of food. That usually occurs when one or more has detected something that would stand a good chance of gagging a maggot. Other times they climb for altitude and settle into long swings over the countryside.
Vultures of any ilk have an incredible sense of smell, so well-developed they can detect the odor of a dead animal from over a mile away.
You’ve seen them on the sides of the road, lumbering off the ground, their long wings elevating them several feet at a time. A car will approach, the buzzards scatter, and then they’ll return within a few seconds to continue stuffing themselves with what they identify as delicious fare.
Each activity has a name. In flight, buzzards are called a kettle. Gathering on the ground, they’re a committee. Feeding their congregation is called a wake.
WATCH A turkey vulture long and it will seem quite a spell before it gains a bit of altitude with a few beats of its wings. They also change the angle of their wings during flight to deal with temperature differences in the air.They may cock their wings at a slightly different angle to gain a perspective from higher, or to turn or drop down.
That part of the birds’ flight is similar to the control flaps that a pilot manipulates when taking off or landing. Thermal patches within the atmosphere also are detected and used by buzzards to supplement wing movements in flight.
Vultures can’t sweat, but they do other things to deal with extreme heat. When they’re in a warm cycle, they stretch their necks and spread their wings to better take advantage of breezes. In cold weather, they compensate by hunching and reducing featherless flesh to the cold air.
