I first noticed vultures flying over water on a trip to the South Carolina coast years ago. Sure, up to that point I'd seen them flying (often circling) over a protagonist in a western film, but this was my first live experience. For some reason, vultures don't tend to live in eastern Washington. Consequently I was surprised to see one flying of the road in front on me a few years ago, and then to see them circling above Deer Harbor, Orcas Island. As I ran across another sailor commenting upon them, I thought I'd share these few facts:
"Turkey vultures in captivity live 25-30 years.
"They cannot smell impending death. They can, however, smell dead stuff up to a mile away. They are one of only two species of birds that can smell. Their “noses” are built in such a way that they can also tell from which direction the smell is coming. When you see them circling in the air, they are simply riding the updrafts, looking for food (things that have already dies, not Marshall Dillon on his last legs). They also can be just playing or gliding around because it’s fun.
"They are nature’s cleaners. They can eat diseased animals and, because of the strength of their stomach acids will discharge non-diseased poop. Their urine has a high strength uric acid component and they urinate on their legs to kill the pathogens that might be present due to standing in dead carcasses. Of course, they probably don’t know they’re doing this. They just know the pee feels nice and cool on their legs and feet.
"They’ve been known to gorge themselves when the opportunity affords. To the point where they’re too heavy to take flight right away. They can, however, puke up what they ate to lighten their loads if necessary. They also puke on themselves if they get too stressed. When you come across some roadkill with a bunch of vultures lunching on it, slow down! These guys are not crows and can’t take off as quickly to avoid getting smacked as crows can. And you don’t want a 6 lb. vulture with a 6′ wingspan coming through your windshield.
"The Cherokee Nation calls the “Peace Eagles” because they are as big as eagles but never kill anything. Given a choice, they prefer fresher rather than older dead meat and prefer dead vegetarians to dead carnivores.
"They’re family-oriented: live together and share a roost tree; monogamous; and will share a carcass with each other.
"Have been recorded flying between 15 and 45 miles per hour.
"A group of vultures is called a “venue”. A large group of flying vultures is called a “kettle”.
"Why does an aquarium have vultures? Because, although technically not shore birds or even sea birds, they do live around the coast and are frequently spotted on the beach dining on dead seagulls so they’re part of the overall aquatic/estuarial environment."
May you, too, enjoy the natural world around us.
Blessed be,
Joel
