Turkey Vulture the Frankenstein of the Avian World

Have you ever looked up to the sky to see dark wings stretched open, gracefully teetering with the winds. Perhaps, a hawk or a stately eagle. Did you ever image it would be one of the ugliest birds upon the earth, the turkey vulture.
Turkey vultures are widely distributed in the new world and are closely related to the stork. These birds are misnamed buzzards, which is actually a term for a family of hawks. You may see power lines dotted with these birds. The lines serve as a warming station for their bodies to absorb the heat from the rising sun. When the time is right, the venue or group of birds shake their massive brown feathers in preparation for flight and circle upwards searching for warm pockets of air, called thermals and do what they do best-soar! Their wings are spread in a V-shape or dihedral pattern to maneuver in the turbulent winds, sometimes reaching speeds of 60 miles per hour. Soaring is a way to reserve their energy, sometimes losing altitude until they find another blast of warm air to carry them up higher.The acrobatic display of these monster birds resembles bubbles rising from a pot of boiling water; hence, the name kettle is given to the upward circling of these social birds.

Yes, many of us believe these birds are disgusting, vile creatures who prey on small helpless animals or peck at dying people in the desert. This only happens in the movies. The Cherokee people call the vulture peace eagle, because they are gentle, social birds, rarely killing live prey. I have served my car to avoid hitting these giant birds with bald, red heads ripping into carrion? (decaying flesh). The vultures are nature's sanitizers. How many other animals can eat meat, possibly contaminated with diseases, such as anthrax and not get sick. Thus the Latin name for turkey vulture is Cathartes aura, which means purifying. By the way, the birds usually snub their beaks at rotten meat. After a good meal, these birds clumsy on the ground, stand in a horaltic pose, (wings spread wide) to bake off any leftover guts left on their head and body. Unable to sweat like us, the birds urinate on themselves, the moisture evaporating in the heat, cooling their bodies. Our mothers used antiseptic to kill germs on a cut, the vulture's waste product is so strong with acids it destroy any bacteria it may have contracted from a dead animal. I wander if the scientific community is studying their liquid gold?

Most predators keep their distance from the vulture, as the bird has a unique defense strategy. Vultures vomit to keep you or any threat away from itself, its nest. The coughed up semi-digested chunks of meat is not projected as we believe, the vulture hacks it up to sting a predator's eyes or free itself of a heavy meal for another lift-off.
The vultures raise their young together, sharing responsibilities of parenthood. Nests are found in caves, holes in the ground or run-down sheds or barns. So be careful even in the burbs, the turkey vulture may sense you are a threat to its young and puke on ya.

Like a dilapidated barn that seems to serve no purpose, the turkey vulture may not look like a swan, but this astute creature is equipped with many talents that bring out its inner beauty.

The next time your outside, look up to the sky to see if you can spot this unlikely super bird.