Nature's Cleaning Crew
By Kathy Reshetiloff
Earth Day brings out a whole host of people willing to help clean up their environment. But there are many animals that do this everyday. You’ve probably caught a glimpse of them on the side of the road. Turkey vultures. They’re our outdoor cleaning crew, ridding the landscape of road kills and other carcasses. They’re hard to admire. However, they perform this important yet thankless function. It’s even reflected in their scientific name,
Cathartes aura.
Cathartes is from the Greek word
katharsis, meaning to purge or cleanse.
Turkey vultures are common from southern Canada, throughout most of the United States and into South America. Northern birds are migratory, leaving colder areas in September and October for warmer climates. Some turkey vultures migrate in flocks while some join up with others of their kind en route south.
Unlike most other types of birds, turkey vultures are not terribly attractive, with a brownish black body, two-tone, black wings and a naked red head. However these large birds are quite graceful in flight, with a wingspan of six feet. They can soar for hours on updrafts and rising columns of warm air called thermals. Turkey vultures extend their wings into a V-shape, lightly rocking from side to side.
Their diet consists almost entirely of carrion from fresh to putrid, although they will occasionally feed on decaying vegetation, insects, or fish. Efficient scavengers, turkey vultures quickly dispose of carcasses. They can consume the bodies of animals that died of illness or infection without being adversely affected. They are most likely to be found soaring over open or semi-open country, including fields, lightly wooded areas, deserts and foothills.
Turkey vultures often congregate together in areas known as roosts. They will rest in the largest trees as well as sit in trees to sun themselves. Late risers, turkey vultures wait for sun to warm them. They pose with wings slightly drooped, known as a spread wing posture. This helps dry their wings and regulate their body temperature. Wing spreading in the morning absorbs solar energy, passively raising their temperature to daytime level.
Since they have no syrinx or voice box, turkey vultures cannot sing like other birds. Instead, they hiss, grunt, and huff. If threatened or disturbed, the birds will regurgitate their food. Some believe that they do this merely to distract the predator into consuming the regurgitated material and leave the turkey vulture alone. Others believe that it is simply a defensive reaction caused by fright. Turkey vultures have one more bad habit; they excrete down their legs. There are two theories as to why they do this. One is that because their excrement contains so much ammonium it helps to kill bacteria. Another theory is that this helps to cool them on hot days.
Despite these characteristics, they do have redeeming qualities. Pairs are monogamous and both parents incubate the eggs, as well as feed and care for the young. Nest sites consist of little or no nest materials at all and eggs are laid on debris inside a hollow tree or log, in crevices on cliffs, and in caves, dense thickets, or old buildings.
Usually two whitish eggs, blotched with brown and lavender, are laid. Incubation lasts 34–41 days. Young are born with a coat of down and eyes open but must be fed by parents by regurgitation. Immature vultures look similar to their parents except they have black heads and beaks. The young are able to fly at about 9–10 weeks old. The beaks turn to adult white or ivory by the age of four.
Though they may not be on your list of favorite birds, turkey vultures do help to recycle carcasses quickly. With the increase in development and vehicles on the roads, road kills increase. Scavengers like turkey vultures keep the surrounding environment clear of unsightly and decaying animal bodies. So remember when you see one circling overhead, without vultures every day would be like a garbage strike.
Kathy Reshetiloff grew up in the Annapolis area. In 1988, she began working as a biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Then, in 2000, she began her career as a writer, bringing wildlife and nature to her readers. She also writes a column, “Bay Naturalist,” for the Bay Journal newspaper published by the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. Kathy loves the outdoors and enjoys hiking, camping, paddling, and diving. She recently finished hiking the entire Appalachian Trail with her husband Greg.