The return of longer days means more sunshine and the return of thermals – those columns of rising air that our birds of prey and scavenges love to ride and glide.
No species loves the return of strong thermals more than turkey vultures, which are likely at the highest numbers of the year right now as they migrate through our area. You’ll see them circling and circling with hardly a wingbeat.
They’re hard to miss. Turkey vultures are big and blackish with wingspans of about six feet, approximately the same as our bald eagles. Unlike our eagles, vultures are clumsy fliers, rocking and tilting as they circle and soar overhead. While you’re likely to see them overhead, they’ll also gather in roosts in tall trees, and feeding on road kills.
Feeding on dead animals is what they do. They’re scavengers. They’re Mother Nature’s clean-up crew, well-adapted for the job of safely consuming and digesting bacteria-infested carrion. Adults sport a featherless bright red head that, while some consider it creepy looking, serves the practical function of allowing the birds to reach into a carcass without the rotting meat sticking to feathers.
Everything in nature has function and purpose, and the turkey vulture is an important part of the balance.
