# Buzzards!



## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

I've made a few posts about the buzzards that get into my compost piles, this morning I was able to get a picture of one of them. Usually they come in in bunches of about 3-5 and dig through the last few days of scraps but this guy was the only visitor today.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

I wonder what type he is.


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

Encourage it.buzzard poop is pre composted fertilize.

DO NOT EVER scare one roosted in a tree, they'll puke all over you on take off!


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## redhorse (Dec 27, 2012)

Magus said:


> Encourage it.buzzard poop is pre composted fertilize.
> 
> DO NOT EVER scare one roosted in a tree, they'll puke all over you on take off!


Haha, yeah, as my poor dog found out the hard way. Needless to say, he wasn't allowed in the house for a while. :factor10:

Grimm, its a Turkey Vulture.  Icky birds. We had a few of them go after a new goat kid once. They were most likely just trying to get the afterbirth, but then turned on the poor kid. Mama took care of the situation admirably.


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## redhorse (Dec 27, 2012)

Davarm said:


> I've made a few posts about the buzzards that get into my compost piles, this morning I was able to get a picture of one of them. Usually they come in in bunches of about 3-5 and dig through the last few days of scraps but this guy was the only visitor today.


Looks like he's just asking to be added to the compost pile himself!


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

Those red-headed ones sure are pretty! We don't have any here in the winter
They are one of the very few birds with a sense of smell.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

When my oldest daughter was about 12 or 13, we were laying in the grass looking up at the clouds when she noticed a flock of birds circling overhead. When I old her they were buzzards, she jumped up faster than I'd ever seen her move before and ran to the house.

Dont know why but that kinda gave her the heebe jeebies!


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## kejmack (May 17, 2011)

I'm a little suspicious. What is attracting the buzzards? Bodies maybe?


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## MetalPrepper (Nov 25, 2012)

They are actually vultures....(our locals call them buzzards too)....and I'd say that is a Turkey Vulture they are considered raptors and are really cool birds!


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## Country Living (Dec 15, 2009)

MetalPrepper said:


> They are actually vultures....(our locals call them buzzards too)....and I'd say that is a Turkey Vulture they are considered raptors and are really cool birds!


Several of them gather in the top of an old dead tree near our house and watch.... and watch.... it's a bit creepy sometimes. It's as if they know something we don't....

They have their value. We'll shoot a feral hog and let it bleed out a bit (seems to be a deterrent to keeping them off the hay meadow) and the turkey vultures will have it picked clean in just a few days.


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## RevWC (Mar 28, 2011)

I was driving south on I-95 today and there is a dump outside of Port St. Lucie, Fl. I am always amazed at the amount of turkey vultures circling around the dump, I am talking hundreds!! Well we had a strong breeze today and as I was driving by I looked up and 3/4's of the birds that were in the air were completely motionless, hovering at 400 to 600 feet in the air! It actually almost made me wreak the truck because I have never seen anything like it and I couldn't take my eyes off them!!! The other 1/4 of birds that were flying in their typical death circle combined with the motionless birds gave me an almost vertago feeling...very cool indeed...


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

kejmack said:


> I'm a little suspicious. What is attracting the buzzards? Bodies maybe?


In the past few years theirs been a population explosion of them, they are everywhere and they have a mass roost on a cell tower not far from here.

When an animal gets killed on the road, they usually a dozen or more fighting for the meal. Have a feeling theirs going to be a die off pretty soon.


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## redhorse (Dec 27, 2012)

MetalPrepper said:


> They are actually vultures....(our locals call them buzzards too)....and I'd say that is a Turkey Vulture they are considered raptors and are really cool birds!


And strangely enough, red tailed hawks and several other North American 'hawks' are technically buzzards lol. :scratch

New world vultures, our black and turkey vultures, are actually more closely related to storks than any raptors.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

We have been seeing more turkey vultures around here, thinking it must be the northern part of their range. They often nest in the attics of abandoned buildings and can make a racket that will make your skin crawl :eyebulge:
I think it is important to have animals to clean up dead/rotting animals to prevent disease and nasty stuff all over.


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## MetalPrepper (Nov 25, 2012)

redhorse said:


> And strangely enough, red tailed hawks and several other North American 'hawks' are technically buzzards lol. :scratch
> 
> New world vultures, our black and turkey vultures, are actually more closely related to storks than any raptors.


Ummm, I'm pretty sure since I know what a raptor is.....and vultures are raptors. They DO eat live prey (though they do prefer dead) and we have tons of them at the raptor center I volunteer at. I have tons of pics of same....one with me and one we raised from a chick who is now a rock star at the raptor center...


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## MetalPrepper (Nov 25, 2012)

I live on a lake and we have a lot of black vultures.....we also have turkey vultures and that is the coolest story I have heard REVWC......I know they can be a nucience.....I have heard it all....but they are an important part of life and death....."little known fact"....they are the only bird that can actaully smell things.....


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## neldarez (Apr 10, 2011)

we have quite a few turkey vultures around here also, they just soar around, looking for road kill...........we also have a lot of bald eagles...pretty cool


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

neldarez said:


> we have quite a few turkey vultures around here also, they just soar around, looking for road kill...........we also have a lot of bald eagles...pretty cool


The only bald eagle I have ever seen was at the zoo. Open air enclosure- she had her wings clipped. Kinda of sad when you think about it.

I have seen a lot of Golden eagles in the wild. They are HUGE and one of the most majestic birds when in flight.


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## seanallen (Nov 13, 2012)

I was standing on my back deck one evening recently. Right at dusk. Right over the tree line this huuuge bird came flying right over my head. I could have jumped up and touched it. I couldnt tell if it was an owl or eagle or whatever. I know its wingspan was about 5-6 feet.


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## redhorse (Dec 27, 2012)

MetalPrepper said:


> Ummm, I'm pretty sure since I know what a raptor is.....and vultures are raptors. They DO eat live prey (though they do prefer dead) and we have tons of them at the raptor center I volunteer at. I have tons of pics of same....one with me and one we raised from a chick who is now a rock star at the raptor center...


Love the pics MetalPrepper, they are certainly rewarding birds to work with. I also have spent a large amount of time with raptors. You must be fairly knowledgable to get your falconer's license in Ohio. It is one of the hardest states to get your license in currently. I literaly spent hundreds on reading materials and testing, along with hunting and learning in the field.

All that aside, old world vultures are technically raptors, but not the new worlds we have in North America, they are classifided in the same family as storks. They are actually more closely related to the storks than the Old World vultures.

Cool birds, no matter what we want to call them, and creepy when they are staring at you from their lofty perches. Lets agree to disagree. 

http://www.collieraudubon.org/questions/vultures.html

Me and Purdy, a Harris Hawk


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

Golden eagles are probably one of my favorites to see. They, along with bald eagles like to eat carrion but they don't get the flack others do


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## redhorse (Dec 27, 2012)

Grimm said:


> The only bald eagle I have ever seen was at the zoo. Open air enclosure- she had her wings clipped. Kinda of sad when you think about it.
> 
> I have seen a lot of Golden eagles in the wild. They are HUGE and one of the most majestic birds when in flight.


I wish we had more around here. There are only two breeding pairs within a 50 mile radius of my house, so I have only seen them a couple of times when they were out soaring.  It is sad to think of them having their wings clipped, when they are a symbol of freedom.


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

Thousands of (mostly) turkey vultures but some black vultures and chachalacas around here. The vultures like the cellphone towers and literally cover 'em in the evening.


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## Jason (Jul 25, 2009)

We get turkey vultures here in the summer. One time one landed on our porch roof and we were able to watch it for a while from inside the bedroom. Through the closed window we were about 8 feet away from it for a good 5 minutes or so. We were still and quiet and when it decided to leave it just kind of lazily soared away.


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## k0xxx (Oct 27, 2011)

Grimm said:


> I wonder what type he is.


Looks like Turkey Vulture.


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