Ancient Greek philosopher Plutarch shed insight on a variety of subjects; his work is said to have influenced Shakespeare and inspired the leaders of the French Revolution. But for admirers of a certain bird with less than typically inspirational qualities, one that eats dead animals on the side of the road and intentionally urinates on its own legs, this Plutarch quote may be among his most insightful:
“Vultures are the most righteous of birds: they do not attack even the smallest living creature.”
Texas is home to two types of these most righteous of birds: turkey vultures and black vultures. Each with their own distinctive flight pattern, plumage, ability to smell, and more. Distinct from each other, they’re also distinct from buzzards, although many use the terms interchangeably. Vultures are, well, vultures and buzzards are a type of hawk. Buzzard became the buzzword for vultures in North America because, as observed by early settlers, the flight pattern of these large birds looked similar to that of buzzards in Europe. For more on this particular subject, check out “What’s the Difference Between Buzzards and Vultures.”
Turkey vultures
“Let us praise the noble turkey vulture: No one envies him; he harms nobody; and he contemplates our little world from a most serene and noble height.” – Edward Abbey
As you zip by them on the side of the road, turkey vultures are easily identified by their healthy appetite for roadkill and their red, featherless heads, a welcome attribute for maintaining a clean pate after shoving your head inside a carcass. Although they may appear black from a distance, they’re more a dark brown. Further, as described by All About Birds, “while most of their body and forewing are dark, the undersides of the flight feathers (along the trailing edge and wingtips) are paler, giving a two-toned appearance.” Despite their impressive presence on the side of the road, they typically weigh between two to four pounds.
Whether soaring high above or slapping their wings on the ground, you won’t hear a majestic song from the turkey vulture as it lacks the vocal chords to sing. “Most of their vocalizations come down to a form of low, guttural hiss made when they are irritated or vying for a better spot on a carcass. They also may give a low, nasal whine while in flight.” (All About Birds) In flight, turkey vultures take advantage of thermals, flapping their wings infrequently for a notably “static” flight pattern. On the ground, you may see their impressive wingspan (six feet on average) in a horaltic pose, that is with their wings spread and raised. It’s believed this is to dry their wings, warm their bodies, and bake off bacteria, which can also be destroyed during urohydrosis, the act of urinating down their legs that helps keep the vultures cool as the fluids evaporate.
Possessing the largest olfactory system of all birds, turkey vultures can smell carrion from over a mile away. They don’t kill for their dinner, but they do prefer their meat fresh; they can smell carrion that is less than 12-24 hours old. (Audubon) Research has found turkey vultures can travel up to 200 miles a day.
Turkey vultures are found throughout Texas, but less so in urban areas. As described by The Texas Breeding Bird Atlas, in the nineteenth century they were “notorious scavengers in city dumps but today, with modern sanitation, they are entirely absent from large metropolitan areas except for occasional migrating birds. They are, for example, listed as rare in a Dallas County checklist.” Turkey vultures have a long breeding season, beginning as early as mid-February and lasting as late as the end of July. They don’t typically build nests, instead taking advantage of already present twigs and leaf litter, caves and rocky cavities, hollow logs, and even abandoned buildings. Some sites may be used from year to year and normally two eggs are laid. Both parents care for their downy white young, feeding by regurgitation. Turkey vultures fly when they reach 70-80 days old and can live to be an average of 20 years
Black vultures
“Don’t play dead with the vulture. That’s exactly what they want.” – Kevin Nealon
In the vulture cohort, black vultures share many similar characteristics with turkey vultures but they can be distinguished easily both on the ground and in the air. Black vultures possess a black or gray head, light-colored legs, and a smaller, more compact build with a shorter tail and a wingspan closer to five feet across. Their appearance in flight is more flat versus the turkey vulture’s more v-shaped appearance. They also tend to flap more in flight than the turkey vulture. While the turkey vulture tends to teeter in flight, the black vulture holds its wings level. Viewing the black vulture in flight, most of the body appears dark except for light, whitish patches at the wing tips.
One of the biggest distinctions between these two Texas natives is the black vulture’s sense of smell, or lack thereof. Black vultures possess excellent vision which allows them to look for food soaring high above, but they also follow turkey vultures (and the turkey vulture’s keen sense of smell) to their food finds. Because turkey vultures often hunt alone or in small groups, they may lose out on their dinner upon the arrival of the more aggressive black vultures, which often hunt in larger groups. (Buffalo Bill Center of the West) And don’t tell Plutarch, but black vultures are also not opposed to the occasional live prey including young, weak, or sick small mammals or birds, as well as eggs and nestlings and, as further noted by Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, occasionally newborn domestic animals.
What happens when there are no vultures
What would happen in Texas if vultures suddenly disappeared? How important is the vulture’s ability to eat dead, rotting animals? What happened in India between 1992 and 2007 offers insight on such a catastrophe. During that time period, the populations of India’s three native vulture species are estimated to have declined up to 99.99 percent thanks to a cheap cattle drug called diclofenac. Vultures were brough to near extinction being poisoned by this drug fed to cattle which the vultures then ingested as they ate cattle carrion. As described in “Declining vulture population can cause a health crisis” the death of vultures had a frightening ripple effect:
“The dramatic decline of vultures created a vacuum, and millions of carcasses were left rotting, increasing the possibility of the spread of diseases such as TB, anthrax, brucellosis, foot-and-mouth etc. Other scavengers such as rats and feral dogs moved in but they lack the efficiency of vultures whose metabolism is a true ‘dead-end’ for pathogens. Dogs and rats, instead, become carriers of the pathogens spreading disease.”
Further, with vultures gone and food more plentiful, the stray dog populations in India exploded, leading to a steep uptick in reported dog bites and rabies outbreaks.
Our native Texas songbirds are always going to be the star of the avian show. But the next time you pass a wake* of vultures, as they shove their bald, wrinkled heads neck deep into a rotting deer and urinate on their own legs, give these roadside heroes, these most righteous of birds, a friendly wave. We’d be in a heap of trouble without them.
*Word trivia: A group of vultures in flight is a kettle, a group of vultures resting on the ground or in the trees is a committee, a group of vultures feeding is a wake.
Turkey vulture image, above, by zoosnow from Pixabay. Black vulture image, above. by skeeze from Pixabay.
