Turkey Vulture

Today (Sept 5th) is International Vulture Awareness Day. Conservation organizations all over the world are using this day to bring attention to the vital role these ugly, misunderstood creatures play in our environment. I mostly mention this because I snapped a photo of a Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura, in flight and wanted to share it with you. So, I'm killing two birds with one virtual stone, so to speak. It is the most common bird of prey I see here on the ranch.

The Turkey Vulture is quite beautiful in flight. It rarely flaps its wings while soaring. Instead, it maintains stability and lift at low altitudes by holding its wings in a slight V-shaped and teetering from side to side. But up close- it is one ugly bird, with its red unfeathered face.

Turkey Vultures use their keen sense of smell to locate carrion (dead & putrefying flesh... eeeew), their main food source. A very sophisticated immune system protects them from disease.

Here's an interesting fact (especially if you happen to be an eight-year-old boy): Turkey Vultures, like their stork relatives, defecate on their own legs in order to cool themselves down through the evaporation of the liquid (...eeeew).

In his book The Wind Masters, Pete Dunne describes the Turkey Vulture as follows:

Turkey Vultures are large birds, cloaked in loose-fitting brown/black feathers that make them look shaggy and unkempt when perched. The legs and feet are sturdy and unfeathered; the color, where not coated in excrement, is cherub pink.

The face is ruddy and wrinkled and topped with an embarrassingly sparse cap of feathers. Its expression is uncommonly serene and there is something about it that suggests infinite patience. Huddled on their perches, wrapped in shabby vestments, the birds look like a group of balding monks gathered in prayer.

Yep. That about sums it up.