Are You Aware Of Vultures? 13
Did you know that September 5 is International Vulture Awareness Day?
Vultures like the above turkey vulture may seem to be in good shape in the United States, but vultures in other countries face some daunting challenges that include habitat loss, poisoning, and poaching. The IVA started as Vulture Awareness Days run by the Birds of Prey Working Group in South Africa and the Hawk Conservancy Trust in England. They came together to highlight the important work being carried out by the world’s vulture conservationists.
On September 5th, many bird clubs and organizations around the world will be doing something to raise awareness of vultures all over the world. So, make people aware of vultures this weekend. Heck, go out for some sushi and pretend to be vultures. If you’re out with friends, ask what they know about vultures here in the US and around the world. Here are some fun facts you can share:
Turkey vultures and black vultures are “new world vultures” and are different than the “old world vultures” in Europe, Asia, and Africa. They may resemble old world vultures, they are not very closely related.
Turkey vultures have a highly developed sense of smell and studies suggest that they can smell carrion from one to five miles away.
Black vultures (like the one in the photo above) follow turkey vultures to find food.
When vultures are frightened or startled, they will vomit as a defense mechanism (nothing is more distracting than vulture vomit and it’s a great way to drop a lot of weight and fly off faster).
An anti-inflammatory drug used on farm animals in South Asia poisons vultures that feed on the dead animals with diclofenac in their system. It has caused a decline of about 95% of the vulture population in India and Pakistan. The decline in old world vultures has led to hygiene problems in India as carcasses of dead animals now tend to rot, or be eaten by rats and wild dogs leading to an increase in rabies.
If you have a vulture fun fact, share it in the comments below!
If you have photos of vultures, consider sharing them on the IVA Flickr group (or just browse all the photos of these great looking birds). And now I leave you with a video of Nero, the education turkey vulture at The Raptor Center (who is the same age I am, he was hatched in the summer of 1974 too) and a demonstration of how he recycles phone books:
And I thought that a rabbit could do a number on a phone book
OK – I added some vulture pics from Kenya on the IVA-flickr website
Nice shots, Larry!
Nice shots, Larry!
Art, great flight shots!
Vultures are AWESOME!
We had a pair nest in an abandoned barn on my grandparents’ property about 18 years ago. (I’m fairly sure that’s not normal, but that’s where they ended up.) We (me, my brother, and the foreman’s son) used to sneak up through the little space between the round bales and the wall so we could peak at the nest through a cracked board. The babies were adorable- grey fuzzy lumps. If I can find ht ephotos we took< i'll upload them to flickr.
To help keep themselves cool, vultures will defecate on there legs. The evaporation does the trick.
But it will not win friends or influence enemies…
I have long had a fondness for vultures, and their preservation is most important.
They always creep me out, but it’s very interesting to read about them and their plight due to poisons etc. Funny video… that’s called environmental stimulation, too
i am now thankyewverymuch!
I have no vulture fun fact, but here is a link to my favorite vulture comic by Rosemary Mosco: http://www.birdandmoon.com/birdandmoon/vultures.html
Hey Sharon–
You say here that vultures can smell carrion. But I thought at some point in the past you said that birds couldn’t smell at all (seagull island). Huh?
I ran over a raccoon the other day and the only thing that made me feel better was the thought that a turkey vulture would probably have a good meal out of it.
Wish I had seen this closer to the day – humans eating like a kettle of vultures at a sushi restaurant would be great fun. “Chuck” the educational vulture at the Birds of Prey Foundation never met a bleach bottle he didn’t peel the label off. He was imprinted, but a very fun bird to interact with. Always around and underfoot when we would clean the pools.