How tall are turkey vultures

They are known to nest in very remote, hard to reach locations. Some of the strangest documented nest sites include the floor of an old neglected barn, 6 ft. Turkey vulture nests are very difficult to find - only one nest has been documented in the Kern Valley. Local researchers suspect that they may use jumbles of boulders for nesting areas. When you see turkey vultures swarming around in a cluster in the early morning hours of early spring or fall, they are preparing to continue on their migration.

Vultures seen in the evening hours have probably arrived in the area that day and are preparing to roost for the night. Groups of vultures spiraling upward to gain altitude are called "kettles". Turkey vultures have been reported by aircraft pilots to rise to as high as 20, feet and soar for hours without flapping their wings.

Researchers have determined that turkey vultures can travel at up to miles in a day. They are known to arrive in the Kern Valley from the Fresno area and continue on the next day south to Tehachapi, Victorville or even farther.

Turkey vultures rarely eat during their migration period. In spite of their large size, they only weigh between pounds! Because of their light weight, turkey vultures can virtually float in the sky using the thermal currents rising columns of air to get around the skies. Vultures are associated with death in many cultures, including ours.

Turkey Vultures have been here a very long time! They are among the most common bird fossils found in the La Brea Tarpits, along with their California Condor relatives and several even larger extinct vulture-like relatives. The tar trapped huge mammals, seeming a huge feast for these scavengers, but some of them fell into the same trap as their intended meals.

They occasionally kill small animals when they are extremely stressed by winter hunger. But normally they must find an animal that has been killed by a natural predator or by man. That means that their skills are all about finding, NOT killing.

They can fly over thousands of LIVE potential food animals and not find any food at all! Where do they get the energy, if the food supply is so slim? First of all, they are incredibly efficient flyers—they travel long distances with a bare minimum of muscular and respiratory effort. Vulture wings are long and tapered. Gliders, like vultures, mainly soar using both solar thermal power the power of rising heated air currents and, oddly, the opposite pull of gravity.

No flapping when they do this, just zooming and looking and smelling. They can fly low to the ground to pick up the scent of dead animals.

A Turkey Vulture live up to 20 years in the wild. People mistakenly call turkey vultures, buzzards, which is the British name for certain hawks.

Turkey Vulture Silhouette Animal silhouettes available to purchase ». All About Birds: Turkey Vulture. Turkey Vulture photos ». Click on the map to learn about the distribution of Turkey Vultures in Washington. Why do turkey vultures vomit? Wings are held in a V when soaring, unlike eagles which hold their wings straight out. Birds rock or appear unsteady in flight.

Southern Canada through South America. Migrates to the southern U. Turkey vultures feed on carrion, which they locate by smell or possibly vision. They are often seen feeding in groups on large items but will eat almost anything.