EXPLORING NATURE: VULTURES

I have a black vulture that sits atop a utility pole close to my house. It often peers down at me whenever I go out in my driveway and I sometimes get the idea it is waiting for me to keel over so it can come down and dine on my tasty corpse.

But that is probably not true. Vultures provide a valuable service by eating decaying carrion. But humans are not high on their preference list. In this area, white-tail deer who get hit by autos are much more dependable as a food source.

There are two types of vultures in Texas, the black and the turkey. The black vulture sports a dark naked head, whereas the turkey vulture’s naked head is red.

Their heads are naked because feathers would get too messy being dipped in and out of dead carcasses.

The turkey vulture has a six-foot wingspan and is a master at soaring, able to ride thermal air currents with a minimum of wing flapping. It has a summer range all the way up to southern Canada.

The shorter-winged black vulture is a less efficient flyer and stays in the warm South, where higher temperatures provide stronger thermals for soaring.

Both have a well-developed sense of smell, which helps in locating dead bodies. The turkey vulture in particular can pinpoint carcasses by smell amid very thick forests and highly vegetated areas.

Both also have cast-iron stomachs, with microbal secretions that help them avoid food poisoning.

Rotting animals can pose a threat to humans by way of anthrax and cholera viruses. However, after passing through a vulture, they instantly lose their lethality. Vultures are a sanitation department par excellence.

So I tip my hat to that black vulture atop my utility pole. He is indeed a gracious undertaker of the skies.