Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Soaring Turkey Vulture
By: Tom Berg
Vultures are raptors, or birds of prey. They are certainly not as handsome and glamorous as other birds of prey like eagles, hawks and owls. Well, maybe glamorous is not the right word. Most people think that vultures, and especially turkey vultures, are not beautiful birds. If you have ever seen a turkey vulture up close, you might agree that they have a face only a mother could love.
Turkey vultures have dark brown plumage that looks almost black when soaring high in the sky. Their head, however, is completely bald and is covered with pinkish-red skin. The undersides of their wings, especially nearer their wingtips, are a bit lighter in color than the rest of their feathers and can look almost gray in the sunlight.
The turkey vulture soars over farmland, grasslands and country roads, riding thermal updrafts and searching for food. They are commonly seen gliding over suburban roadways and landfills, and even rivers and lakes where dead fish might wash up on shore. They have an extremely strong sense of smell, and they can smell carrion or dead animals as they soar high overhead. In fact, they can detect the odor of decaying flesh of just a few parts per trillion in the air. Wow! Road-killed animals like raccoons and opossums are a favorite meal for them.
Eating dead and decaying animals is not for those with weak stomachs, and turkey vultures have absolutely no trouble with their digestion. Their stomach acids are exceptionally strong, allowing them to eat decaying meat and even dead animals that were sick or infected with serious diseases like rabies, anthrax and botulism. They also have a highly developed immune system which helps protect them against a wide variety of toxins.
Since turkey vultures are so proficient at cleaning up carcasses from the countryside, they play a vital role in helping the environment and preventing the possible spread of diseases. So the next time you see a turkey vulture soaring overhead, just remember that it is simply nature’s cleaning crew, hard at work!
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