Vultures in the neighborhood

[CelticWarlord]

Although western Canada is considered well within the normal range of Turkey Vultures, I had never seen one prior to about five years ago. Now there are a dozen or more flying in each evening (from where is anyone’s guess) soaring over the blocks adjacent to where we live and can be seen settling down to roost in a couple of large trees. Ungainly on the ground, like many large birds, they are incredibly graceful in the air. With a six to seven foot wingspan they are amazing to watch as they circle continuously at tree top height before selecting just the right perch to land on. Often another will decide, hey that is the perfect spot , and try to land on top of the first one, shoving it off to begin the search again. Occasionally an alarmed Robin or Sparrow, completely dwarfed in size, attempts to chase the whole lot of them off. Biking over to get the best view has become an evening ritual.

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

 

[Tis_Bearself]

We usually will see a bunch here when there is a significantly large roadkill, such as a deer carcass that the state authority hasn’t picked up yet.

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

A deer got hit across the street from my church and about fifteen of these birds took care of it in an afternoon!

 

[adamhovey1988]

There was a mixed-species group of vultures in my yard I think either yesterday or the day before, because there was a dead armadillo in front of my house.

 

[tad]

I like vultures. Here’s some pictures I took on the Oregon coast.

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

 

[JanR]

I occasionally see a single Turkey Vulture flying overhead while I’m in our yard. Haven’t seen any for awhile, though. We have mostly ravens flying around, and the occasional hawk. Seems in recent years, there hasn’t been as wide a diversity of avian life around here as we used to have.

A Bald Eagle once chased my cat into his shelter, which he managed to enter in just a niche of time. He was almost caught and carried off!

When we traveled through the South in 2009, I saw Black Vultures.

 

[Irishmom2]

Sometimes on a sunny day, we will be sitting on the deck and all of a sudden a shadow passes overhead from a turkey vulture. They have an enormous wingspan! There is a spot coming off the interstate that goes up to the mountain we live on, and they were sitting there In the trees in a group one day, like a creepy family reunion!

 

[CelticWarlord]

When we traveled through the South in 2009, I saw Black Vultures.

You’re very fortunate. The Blacks, as you probably already know, are usually found only in the north along the New England coast. I love watching birds and spend a good deal of time at my back window enjoying the sight of them at the many feeders I fill. I keep my Audubon bird guide always handy as well.

 

[CelticWarlord]

We usually will see a bunch here when there is a significantly large roadkill,

You should always keep a set of disposable cutlery and napkins handy so you can join them.

 

[redbetta]

When I first read the thread title, I didn’t think it was going to be about literal vultures. There goes my hopes of reading juicy neighborhood drama.

 

[JanR]

JanR:

When we traveled through the South in 2009, I saw Black Vultures.

You’re very fortunate. The Blacks, as you probably already know, are usually found only in the north along the New England coast. I love watching birds and spend a good deal of time at my back window enjoying the sight of them at the many feeders I fill. I keep my Audubon bird guide always handy as well.

My Stokes field guide shows year-around residency range for Black Vultures includes almost the entire deep South and into Mexico, west across most of Texas to the lowest-most tip of western Arizona and east to the Atlantic coast a little more than halfway up, but not into the farthest north New England states. They aren’t found at all in the Midwest or the far western states.

 

[puer.dei]

My Stokes field guide shows year-around residency range for Black Vultures includes almost the entire deep South and into Mexico, west across most of Texas to the lowest-most tip of western Arizona and east to the Atlantic coast a little more than halfway up, but not into the farthest north New England states. They aren’t found at all in the Midwest or the far western states.

We have them here in south Texas. There’s an old barn on the property, and they’ve been coming by to roost there for several years. It’s so neat to see the younger ones with their tan down still peeking through the feathers. Sometimes they’ll come down and sit on the fence.

 

[CelticWarlord]

The Audubon guide must need some updating, one would assume.

 

[puer.dei]

The Audubon guide must need some updating, one would assume.

Maybe nobody gave the vultures a copy, so they’d know where to hang out?

 

[JanR]

I’ve never cared much for the Audubon bird guides. For one, the layouts of the ones I’ve had were inconvenient. All the photos would be together in one section, then you had to go to another section to read the texts. So, it was back and forth when trying to identify a bird. There are better bird guides out there, that have the photos and the texts together, so everything is in one place and easy to access.

 

[CelticWarlord]

I totally agree. The constant flipping of pages back and forth is a real nuisance. I do have other western Canadian bird guides so I must today ask myself, why don’t I get them out and use them? Sheer laziness as the Audubon version is small and easy to keep nearby. However, you have inspired me to cast off this millstone of aviary scrutiny.