Turkey Vulture - Val
Turkey Vultures are large dark birds with long, broad wings. Bigger than other raptors except eagles and condors, they have long "fingers" at their wingtips and long tails that extend past their toe tips in flight. When soaring, Turkey Vultures hold their wings slightly raised, making a ‘V’ when seen head-on. Turkey Vultures appear black from a distance but up close are dark brown with a featherless red head and pale bill. 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.
Turkey Vultures are common around open areas such as roadsides, suburbs, farm fields, countryside, and food sources such as landfills, trash heaps, and construction sites. On sunny days, look for them aloft as early as 9 a.m.; in colder weather and at night they roost on poles, towers, dead trees, and fence posts. Present year-round in much of the central and southern United States, but northern birds migrate long distances, some reaching South America. Migrates in flocks, and may travel long distances without feeding.
Turkey Vultures eat carrion, which they find largely by their excellent sense of smell. Mostly they eat mammals but are not above snacking on reptiles, other birds, amphibians, fish, and even invertebrates. They are deft foragers, targeting the softest bits first and are even known to leave aside the scent glands of dead skunks. Thankfully for them, vultures appear to have excellent immune systems, happily feasting on carcasses without contracting botulism, anthrax, cholera, or salmonella. Unlike their Black Vulture relatives, Turkey Vultures almost never attack living prey.
Turkey Vultures don’t build full nests. They may scrape out a spot in the soil or leaf litter, pull aside obstacles, or arrange scraps of vegetation or rotting wood. Once found, many of these nest sites may be used repeatedly for a decade or more. These nest sites are typically much cooler (by 13°F or more) than surroundings, and isolated from human traffic or disturbance. While they often feed near humans, Turkey Vultures prefer to nest far away from civilization.
Val is Sarett Nature Center’s resident Turkey Vulture. She arrived at Sarett in March 2015 after sustaining injuries from a car collision – she broke a bone in her wing and it did not heal correctly. She is now unable to fly (non flighted) which is why she lives at the nature center. Turkey Vultures have a high relative intelligence, comparable to that of a human toddler, and she very much enjoys interacting with her trainers and enrichment toys. We are currently raising funds and planning to build her a new outdoor public display enclosure so she and the trainers can have more space to build more trust and allow her more room for play, roaming, basking and bathing. Although she seems to enjoy interaction, she is also adamant about biting which has made attaching her equipment for outdoor time quite difficult! She has come a very long way in her retraining journey. She has taken well to the positive reinforcement method and we look forward to continuing making improvements for her. Sarett Nature Center has a Scientific Collector’s Permit issued by the DNR to allow for possession of these animals for educational purposes.
