..... make a run to the store in town to pick up a few things. Glad I had my camera with me!
Black Vultures!
Some little critter got smunched on the road:
This one was sitting on the roof of a house - look at that wing span!
They are fascinating birds and we are starting to see more of them around. Sometimes they will dine with the Turkey Vultures (they have a pinkish colored head) which are very common. On the way back, the road was all cleaned up.
With sooty black plumage, a bare black head, and neat
white stars under the wingtips, Black Vultures are almost dapper.
Whereas Turkey Vultures are lanky birds with teetering flight, Black
Vultures are compact birds with broad wings, short tails, and powerful
wingbeats. The two species often associate: the Black Vulture makes up
for its poor sense of smell by following Turkey Vultures to carcasses.
Highly social birds with fierce family loyalty, Black Vultures share
food with relatives, feeding young for months after they’ve fledged.
Source: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black_Vulture/id
I don't believe we have them around here. I should check their distribution.
ReplyDeleteJust keep any eye on the sky, Gorges. They really are fun to watch as they soar and circle. Starting to see more of them here. Guess they are starting to move North.
DeleteNature's housekeepers! I live on a canyon wall and the vultures use the canyon to get lift so they can survey their kingdom. At night they come back and use it, once again, for lift so they can 'go home' to the myriad towers in the town 5 miles down the road.
ReplyDeleteThey ARE fascinating creatures! Not everything fascinating has to be 'nice'! They are phenomenal gliders. We have hawks here too, sometimes we get a huge flock of them, possibly migrating around Texas. They are also wonderful, but nothing like the vultuers!
Cap'n Jan
The turkey vultures used to roost in one of our trees at night - maybe 20-25 of them until the tree fell down in a storm. Neighbor across the road would throw rocks at them. I yelled at him to stop. The birds were on my property and I like them. Haven't spoken to him since! You're right Cap'n Jan - not everything has to be beautiful to be wonderful!
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