The first turkey vultures are just showing up along the Rogue River, having returned from wintering grounds farther south. Found throughout the US, the turkey vulture will migrate to South America during the winter. They are currently protected under the Migratory Bird Act of 1918. Below are some interesting facts about these admittedly ugly but fascinating creatures....
The turkey vulture is a gentle and non aggressive bird that is often seen standing with its wings spread in a "horaltic pose" usually drying its wings, warming its body, or baking off bacteria.
Like storks, the turkey vulture defecates on its own legs using evaporation of the water in the feces and urine to cool itself down. They excrete a high concentration of uric acid that acts as a sanitizer that kills any bacterial it picks up while getting its food.
The turkey vulture gets its name because of its red bald head that resembles the male wild turkey. The female is slightly larger than the male. Identified by its red head and brownish black body feathers, the turkey vulture’s wings are brown around the edges and a silvery color when spread out and in flight. Its head is small in proportion to its body. This vulture's head is bald because it often sticks its head into a carcass to reach its meat. If it had a feathery head, it would capture unwanted pieces of the meal as well as bacteria. Adults are about 30 inches long, weigh around two pounds and has a wing span of six feet.
Graceful in flight, the turkey vulture can soar up to six hours without flapping its wings. Occasional flaps and takeoffs are quite laborious and often make them fall victim to predators and cars. They leave their perch after the morning air has warmed and circle upward searching for warm air pockets that carries them upward in rising circles. Once at the top, they dive across the sky at sixty miles per hour, losing altitude until they reach another warm air pocket.
Vultures are sometimes recognized because of their circling in the air over carcasses, however this circling does not necessarily mean there is a presence of a carcass. They may be gaining altitude for a long flight, searching for food or just playing. While soaring, the turkey vulture holds its wings in a v-shaped formation and tip from side to side. The infrequency of them flapping their wings is easy to identify from a distance. They soar in open areas watching for dead animals. Unlike other birds, they use its sense of smell as well as its vision to locate carrion, or animal carcasses. They fly low to the ground to pick up scent of mercaptan (the gas produced by the beginnings of decay of dead animals.)
Turkey vultures do not feed on live animals, unlike its cousin the black vulture. They primarily feed on carrion from small mammals to dead cows. Turkey vultures also feed on plant matter, vegetation, pumpkins, crops and live insects. They are usually seen along the roadsides near road kill or near rivers feasting on washed-up fish. After a meal, it perches in the sun to bake off any bacteria it picked up while feeding.
The turkey vulture does not have any vocal organs. It hisses when threatened and grunts when hungry or when adults are courting each other. Its primary form of defense is vomiting, or coughing up semi-digested meat. The foul smelling vomit deters most predators intent on raiding their nest. It is not known if this act is to specifically scare a predator or simply to lighten its load before fleeing and taking flight.
