I have been making a lot of trips to the border recently and that has cut down on my time in nature. Being stuck behind the wheel of a car for many hours can be monotonous, so to compensate, I have taken up car birding. I freely acknowledge that craning one's neck skyward while hurtling down the autopista is not the sanest thing to do. Nor is bird watching at breakneck speed really relaxing or particularly safe. It can, however, be rewarding. Larger species tend to be the focus of fast car birding as you can more easily spot the big birds, whether they be the stately tall egrets poised at the sides of ponds, or large plump hawks perched on tree limbs, waiting for small prey to happen by. Whiling away the hours during marathon drives towards Laredo, I like to keep track of how many different species I can see, and which species is the most prolific. The hands down winner of my last road trip has to be the large, dark bird often spotted soaring in the distance, gliding majestically above the mountains and valleys: the yurkey vulture.
Although incredibly graceful in flight, this bird possesses characteristics less appealing, that of scavenging on the remains of dead animals. . .(As a vegetarian, I like to remind my slightly disgusted friends that this is exactly what humans do when they eat meat.) The turkey vulture is a member of the six species of New World vulture family; it is closely related to the spectacular California condor, known for its gigantic size and near escape (not yet certain) from extinction. Like the condor, the turkey vulture is also a big bird, albeit many inches smaller. It has a wing span of six feet (1.8 meters) and stands almost two and a half feet tall. It appears all black or dark brown, but is actually two shades of dark grey. A silvery patterned lining under the wings can be glimpsed from below. Its flight is also quite recognizable. It flies with wings tilted upwards in a shallow V (called dihedral) and at times appears to be flying unsteadily but what it is really doing is preparing to catch a thermal or warm air updraft so it can fly without flapping its wings at all.
TVs are often seen in a group, flying together or communally roosting in trees. Road kill is their primary sustenance, you can see them standing at the sides of the road having a meal which makes them relatively easy to notice while roaring down the highway. The Turkey Vulture's scientific name (cathartes aura) is translated into "pacifier" or "cleanser" as they pick their meals clean, and they perform the extremely useful task of ridding the environment of decaying animals. The Cherokee nation in the US refers to them as peace eagles as they do not kill their prey. Being relatively weak, the turkey vulture's beak and talons are not equipped for tearing into fresh flesh. TVs are named after the wild turkeys they resemble, with their reddish, small and bald heads. However, the turkey vulture's head evolved to be featherless as they must put their heads into the carcasses of the animals they feed on and apparently head feathers are rather difficult to clean.
They have adapted in other ways to their dietary habits. They have the remarkable ability to digest pathogens in their food and remain immune to ill effects. They apparently release urine down their legs to clean off remaining bacteria. They have a terrific olfactory sense and can smell dead flesh while soaring at 200 feet. They also have excellent long range vision.
Truthfully, I didn't learn all this while driving...a little internet research once I was stationary helped. Learning more about the life history of turkey vultures, gives me an appreciation not only of their beauty but their efficiency in the natural world. Now I find the humdrum of driving long distances broken by watching the tilting spiral of the turkey vulture's flight and appreciating the part they play in keeping the ecosystem clean.
