Rural Perspectives: Turkey vultures return to our area in mid-March

by Diane Constable

Despite their looks, turkey vultures are important in preventing diseases. Photo credit: Diane Constable

Although turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) are not the prettiest birds, they perform a priceless function. The scientific name, which means “cleansing breeze,” points to the fact that they are the cleanup crew of the natural world and help prevent diseases. These birds are uniquely equipped to eat carrion as their main food source, even when the meal is rotting and contaminated with deadly pathogens. The diseases and bacterium are destroyed during digestion and do not affect the vulture.

This scavenger has the biggest range of any of our birds and is found throughout North and South America. The turkey vulture lives in most habitats other than dense woods and dense urban areas. Around mid-March, they return to our area after spending the colder months in the Southern states.

They do not build nests but lay one to three eggs in tree hollows, on the ground in a wooded area near logs or thickets, or in abandoned buildings. Both parents incubate the eggs and feed the chicks. Eggs hatch out in about 40 days and the chicks stay with the parents nearly three months. Eventually, they will have about a 6-foot wingspan, a length of about 2.5 feet, weigh up to 5 pounds, and live about 16 years.

The turkey vulture’s beak and chicken-like feet are not built to kill. Instead it has the keenest sense of smell in the bird world, allowing to it to locate dead mammals over a mile away. They are very clumsy on the ground, awkwardly hopping along rather than walking. Turkey vultures have to jump up and down to help during takeoff.

At night they roost together but are solitary hunters; however, they will congregate once a carcass is found. They do take turns to get a bite of food. Other scavenger birds will follow them to a carcass. If threatened, they can regurgitate a foul smelling meal up to 10 feet to scare off the threat.

Turkey vultures often can be seen roosting with outstretched wings to gather the sun’s warmth. They are a graceful soarer, gliding along in the thermals of the summer skies. In flight, their wings resemble a “V” shape, and the silver-gray feathers on the underside of the front edge of the wings can be seen, which easily distinguishes them from a soaring bald eagle.

Fun Fact 1: A roosting group of vultures is called a committee, when eating on carrion they are called a wake, and drifting in the skies together is called a kettle.

Fun Fact 2: The bald, red-skinned head resembles a turkey, hence the name turkey vulture. (The bare head is to keep bits of food from clinging to it.)

As an avid photographer, Diane Constable regularly puts her formal education in both nature and photography to good use. Diane also enjoys gardening and her dogs. She serves on the board of the Ann Arbor Dog Training Club and is editor of the club’s newsletter.