It has a face that only a mother could love and it”s not the typical bird welcomed to the backyard bird feeder. The turkey vulture has few friends among humans, but yet it”s one of the more common wild birds in Lake County and certainly one of the most important.
Its scientific name is carhartes aura and it”s actually a member of the stork family. These large birds have a wingspan of up to 6 feet and an adult vulture weighs up to 8 pounds. They eat strictly meat and the older the better. In fact, 80 percent of their diet is carrion.
Turkey vultures can be found throughout the United States and are especially common in California. In Lake County it is estimated there are approximately 1,000 vultures.
On any given day vultures can be seen soaring above the rooftops and trees in Lake County. They can stay up for hours, riding the air currents and the wind. These creatures of the sky are actually on patrol, looking for carcasses of dead animals.
Vultures are one of the very few birds that can smell. They have an excellent sense of smell and can detect a dead animal from hundreds of feet in the air. Experiments have shown they can even find a dead animal hidden beneath a thick canopy of trees. Their nostrils are extremely wide and open from one side of the bill straight across to the other side. In addition to their sense of smell, they have excellent eyesight, which also helps them find food. They also have one of the strongest digestive juices in the stomach of any bird. This allows them to digest the oldest meat without getting sick.
Vultures feed on just about any dead carcass, even those that are rotting. The bare, featherless head is especially designed to feed in the cavities of large dead animals. They have short weak legs and small talons, which prevents them from carrying off food, and they are physically incapable of killing anything. Years ago farmers would blame vultures for killing their chickens and shoot them. Actually, vultures are an asset to farmers.
They have few enemies. When threatened, they will regurgitate the contents of their stomach, a disgusting habit that”s very effective in frightening away an attacker. Even the chicks have this ability. Turkey vultures also have the unique habit of urinating on their legs. They do this to cool off as the urine evaporates. The urine also contains a strong acid that kills the bacteria from the dead animals it feeds on.
They lay their eggs in remote forests in caves, hollow trees or on rocky ledges and are considered poor nest builders. In four weeks the eggs are hatched and when the young are 10 weeks old they leave the nest. The chicks are snow white for the first few months of their lives.
Vultures are always looking for a meal as illustrated to me a few years ago. I was deer hunting up in the Cow Mountain Recreation Area and decided to take a nap. It was a warm day and I flopped on my back on an open hillside. A sudden rush of air awoke me and I found myself staring up at three buzzards circling a few yards above my head. I didn”t move a muscle and they dropped closer and closer. Finally I made a slight movement with my arm and they were gone.
Whereas it”s not likely that many people would want a buzzard at their backyard bird feeder, they are an important part of the ecosystem. They clean up road kill and are the undertakers of the forest. Where I live, a deer was recently hit and killed by a car. Within less than 10 minutes a vulture appeared and several others followed. The carcass was cleaned within a few hours, leaving only the bones and a little of the hide.
Vultures can often be seen at Clear Lake feeding on dead carp and other large fish that have washed ashore.
Vultures are protected by law and cannot be killed or injured. Since they pose no threat to other animals or man, it would be foolish to harm one. They are a bird that has truly found a niche in the wild.
