In celebration of International Vulture Awareness Day, here are some photos I’ve taken of the three vulture species native to the 48 contiguous United States.
A turkey vulture, Cathartes aura, flying past me four years ago on a narrow promontory above the Pacific Ocean.
A group of American black vultures, Coragyps atratus, perched in July 2006 on a buncha saguaros about twenty feet from the US-Mexico border (which I guess makes them International Vultures).
And last but decidedly un-least is this aloof beauty, a re-released California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) perching a few dozen feet below the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in November of 2008.
For much more on the condors at the Canyon in particular, and International Vulture Awareness Day and the plight of the birds in general, check out Madhusudan’s fine post at Reconciliation Ecology, a blog you should be reading anyway.
Nice images, Chris. I particularly like the mood of the scene with American Black Vultures sitting on Saguaro… I guess I’m missing the Sonoran desert here!
And thanks for the plug for my blog!
Probably co-incidental, but the online New Scientist just posted [url=“http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327243.100-circling-
turbines-spell-doom-for-vultures.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=onl
ine-news”]this story[/url] today, the day after Vulture Awareness Day.
Hmmm. Looks like I can’t embed a click-able link in comments. Here’s a tinyurl-ized version: http://tinyurl.com/lpfcyt .
Love the shot of the blacks on the cactus. Neat!
On October 6th, my daughter and I saw a Black Vulture “kettle” in North East Dallas of between 50 and 75 vultures, possibly more. They were circling in what looked like a tornado and heading in the general direction of White Rock Lake. It was a stunning sight, and I was sorry we couldn’t get a good picture. Is it unusual to see this many vultures together?
Karen: this time of years, its not at all unusual to see such large kettles of vultures. Its what they do during autumn migration.
Thanks for the reply, Madhusudan! I had never seen vultures in the Dallas city limits before. The size of the kettle was an additional surprise. Back in August, I saw a group of about 5 black vultures feeding on a dead deer next to a country road. I am accustomed to seeing turkey vultures, but that was the first time I’d seen the black vultures so close up. I thought they were black plastic bags before they suddenly flew up!
Not only was the size and location of the kettle surprising, but the kettle movement looked like a tornado as they drifted eastward toward the lake. It was an amazing sight. I wish I could have gotten a video of the birds!
Sounds amazing, Karen! I too wish you’d gotten a video! :-)