watching my mail box like a turkey buzzard

[threeplusfire]

TURKEY VULTURE, also called TURKEY BUZZARD (Cathartes aura), long-winged, long-tailed vulture (family Cathartidae, the New World vultures) that has dark plumage, a whitish beak, white legs, and a bare red head (black in immature birds) that is covered with whitish bumps. Its wingspread is about 1.8 m (6 feet), and its length is about 75 cm (30 inches). The turkey vulture has an elaborate olfactory canal and uses its keen sense of smell in finding food. The bird subsists predominantly on carrion. The species occurs throughout the Americas except northern Canada; northerly and southernmost populations are migratory. The one to three eggs, which are white with brown spots, are laid in a crude nest; the sexes share incubation. Hatching takes place in five or six weeks.

Interestingly enough, they're cousins to condors and flamingos. Which explains why they get so damn big. I sometimes see them in people's yards driving through the neighborhood, picking up dead squirrels and the like, just hanging out in the front yard.
Info found at this page:
http://www.fsbcanisteo.com/turkey_buzzard_page.htm

Comments

re: vultures

[elionwyr.livejournal.com]

Apparently, they're very smart, too.

We have one at the mini-zoo I work at. Her name is Mystic, and far from the favourite bird in the collection. But dear lord, a beautiful creature in her own awkward way..

Re: re: vultures

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

They are, it's very strange. I've watched them often.

I like big birds. They are curious things.

Re: re: vultures

[kimberlycreates.livejournal.com]

We've got a lot of vultures out here in Southern California - a lot of raptors in general, but I notice the vultures the most. They are just amazing birds. I've heard that when you take real hawking classes, they start you out on vultures because vultures are so patient that if you give them the wrong signal, they just float around until you get it right rather than taking the opportunity to squawk "Sayonara baby!" and fly off never to be seen again. I would love to take hawking classes, but I also hear they are extremely expensive.

Re: re: vultures

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

How interesting, I had never heard of using the vultures. One of the places I travelled to this summer had a school that trained many people from all over Europe in the care and use of large birds. They had many beautiful eagles and raptors out the day I was there, and it was quite a thing to see.