The Elegance of the Vulture

A committee, venue, kettle or volt refers to a group of vultures. A kettle is vultures in flight while a committee, venue or volt is the name given to vultures resting in trees. I passed a group of vultures feeding on a dead rabbit this morning and just learned that what I saw was called, aptly, a wake. One bird seemed to be helping himself while another stood ready to grab what he could. Several more rested in trees waiting to see if there would be any left when these two were done.

There are three species of New World vultures in North America. The two found in Texas and over most of the country are the turkey vulture, whose range extends into southern Canada and the black vulture who is found in the south and eastern part of the US. The California condor is found only in the western part of North America.

 Vultures have an unusually good sense of smell which is unusual for a bird. They have been known to small a dead animal up to a mile away. The lack of feathers on their heads helps to keep them clean and cool. They are generally silent but can make grunts and hissing sounds.

Vultures can often be seen roosting with wings outspread, especially in the morning. This posture is called the"horaltic pose." They are thought to be collecting warmth from the sun and drying wet wings as an energy saving mechanism.

The black vulture can have a wing-span of five feet and has patches of white on the underside of the wings. They prefer to hunt in groups unlike the turkey vulture who is generally solitary except when roosting Vultures don’t generally attack prey but black vultures may attack the weak and the sick. Cattle ranchers blame them for attacks on newborn calves.

Vultures serve a good purpose in keeping the landscape free of dead animals, especially in the hotter parts of the world. They have strong stomach acid that allows them to eat meat that is infected with Botulinum toxin, hog cholera, and anthrax bacteria that would be lethal to other scavengers.

Despite claims that vultures carry diseases, their droppings are bacteria free due to the strong stomach acid. The birds actually sterilize the environment by eating contaminated meat. Their droppings will, however, kill grass and plants that it may fall on.

 The New World Vultures are able to vomit when threatened Some claim the birds can project vomit as a defense but it has been shown that it is more likely a case of the birds attempting to lighten their load to be better able to take off in flight.

While they are not endangered, they are protected. Life without these great birds would be a messy one at best.