Black vs. Turkey Vultures

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PrimitiveTim
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Black vs. Turkey Vultures

Post by PrimitiveTim »

Was filming vultures today and I noticed only black vultures descended onto the carcass I put out. There were a couple Turkey vultures around but they never landed. Is there any reason why turkey vultures wouldn't feed with black vultures? Any input is appreciated. FYI the carcass was roadkill.

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J-Miz
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Re: Black vs. Turkey Vultures

Post by J-Miz »

http://www.sacredfriend.org/pdfs/Black_ ... ltures.pdf

Blacks tend to be more aggressive and will drive away the more placid turkey vultures. Also, strength in numbers!
Tamara D. McConnell
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Re: Black vs. Turkey Vultures

Post by Tamara D. McConnell »

The black vultures are glorious birds. I have not yet been able to get any good pictures of them. Love the one you posted.
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PrimitiveTim
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Re: Black vs. Turkey Vultures

Post by PrimitiveTim »

Cool thanks for the info. I'll try to work that into the video. Also, it took about 1.5 to 2 hours before any vultures came down. Both black and turkey were flying in the vicinity during that time. They were flying pretty low and could easily see and smell it but I don't know why they didn't come down immediately. I was sitting a good ways away but maybe they were just hesitant cause they knew I was around.

Here's another shot from further away. Light was low and they never stopped moving so it's a little blurred. gives the image some movement... maybe?
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Tamara D. McConnell
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Re: Black vs. Turkey Vultures

Post by Tamara D. McConnell »

Their look goes perfectly with their function. Avian undertakers. More photos, please.
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PrimitiveTim
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Re: Black vs. Turkey Vultures

Post by PrimitiveTim »

Tamara D. McConnell wrote:Their look goes perfectly with their function. Avian undertakers. More photos, please.
More? All I have is video and these are screen shots from the video I took. If you want to see updates on the projects I'm working on you like my facebook page. I'll be posting photos there pretty frequently.
Tamara D. McConnell
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Re: Black vs. Turkey Vultures

Post by Tamara D. McConnell »

Got the fb page liked. Awesome scrub jay photo!
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Antonsrkn
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Re: Black vs. Turkey Vultures

Post by Antonsrkn »

The black vultures are glorious birds.
Lol we will have to agree to disagree. I do like seeing them but I view them more as flying garbage gobblers. :)

I do like the pics posted they're better than anything I have gotten and I have seen probably thousands of these birds! Really nicely done!

Working on a project some time ago, I almost caught one while mistnetting, me and my coworkers all simultaneously jumped to our feet and collectively released quite the stream of profanity. None of us relished the idea of untangling a vulture from a net considering their nasty defensive habit of vomiting, the thought of half digested roadkill spewed onto us was really unappealing. They also have formidable beaks! Luckily the vulture wasn't really tangled and flew out on its own before we could even bring the mistnets down.
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JakeScott
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Re: Black vs. Turkey Vultures

Post by JakeScott »

In some cases the first bird on the scene is the turkey vulture since they have both acute eyesight and acute olfactory senses. The black vulture has about the same eyesight ability, but lacks developed olfaction. So what the black vulture has been known to do, is watch for turkey vultures circling or on carrion and then swoop down and steal the food. They are the bully over the turkey vulture, but if the caracara shows up, all vultures scatter.

-Jake
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