Let's Talk About Birds: Misunderstood vulture plays big role in nature
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A hooded vulture flies above the audience at the National Aviary.
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This is one of a series presented by the National Aviary, America's bird zoo. The National Aviary works to inspire a respect for nature through an appreciation of birds.
There is perhaps no other category of bird that is more misunderstood than the vulture, a species whose slow spiraling flight has become synonymous with death.
Despite a face only a mother vulture could love and a particularly gross diet (encompassing just about anything dead), these remarkable birds play a critical role in our world. As nature's hazmat crew, they clean up rotting flesh and in the process rid the environment of disease that could otherwise spread to humans and other animals.
Vultures are well equipped to scavenge. Their slim heads are bald, allowing them to clean up easily after poking around inside a carcass, and their hooked beaks are perfect for tearing apart their meal. Some species, such as the turkey vulture found in Pennsylvania, have an excellent sense of smell, which allows them to pick up and follow the stench to their next dead body.
You can identify turkey vultures by their flight. Vultures fly with their wings in a "vee" formation, and appear to wobble or teeter as they fly. Although they are darkly colored, the undersurfaces of a turkey vulture's flight feathers often appear whitish, and their heads are a distinctive pinkish red.
The National Aviary is home to two Andean condors, a vulture species native to South America. With a wingspan of up to 10 feet and weighing as much as 30 pounds, Andean condors are among the largest flying birds in the world.
Unfortunately, Andean condors and vultures in other parts of the world are in rapid decline. Because they eat carrion, vultures are vulnerable to poisoning from lead shot, agricultural pesticides and drugs administered to livestock.
You can learn more about vultures and efforts to protect them during the National Aviary's International Vulture Awareness Day events on Sept. 3. Information: 412-323-7235 or www.aviary.org.
First Published August 24, 2011 12:00 am
