Harmony

Of all the big birds here, the turkey vultures are the most interesting. On August 3, 2009, I caught the image above. There are 3 turkey vultures on the left and one black vulture on the right. The turkey vultures have a wingspan of up to about 6 feet while the smaller black vultures have wingspans of up to about 5 feet. Both birds fly in groups here. Sometimes their numbers can exceed 100 birds flying together.

When people think of vultures, they think of birds flying in circles in search of carrion. That is true. However, in the thermals behind the house they fly for the joy of flying, especially the turkey vultures. Based on my observations over the past several years, I believe they are playing. For example, turkey vultures fly through the woods when they can easily fly over the woods. They maneuver their wings to miss the trees. The turkey vultures are more acrobatic and daring in flight. However, both enjoy what I refer to as "wind dancing." To wind dance, a vulture will fly into the wind for several hundred yards then turn around--in a variety of ways--and catch the wind at their tail and speed across the sky. Yeah, they play.

You will be seeing much more here about turkey vultures. I've even taken images of the turkey vulture mating ritual.

(Originally posted on October 30, 2009)

Turkey Vulture      Black Vulture