HomeMy WebLinkAboutSeptember 2, 1962 - VulturesVultures Exclusive
Sunday
Review
Sketch by Melita Hofmann of Orient Focus on Nature
by Paul Stoutenburgh, Cutchogue
By MELITA
What are those ugly birds ?"
is the question of so many .people
who, in driving through 't he
countryside, have seen vultures
feeding on carrion or perched on
tree limbs. When seen on the
ground or motionless in a tree
they are about the most unbeau-
tiful, awkward - looking specimens
of birdlife 'one can imagine, and
it is most difficult to believe that
they could be the same birds
whose.grace and Thythm of flight
have captivated us and held us
spellbound as we have watched
them. glide and circle in the sky
for hours at a time without a
single flap of their wings.,
These birds of prey,, s e I do m
seen on Long Island except oc-
casionally when one p a s s e s
over, are a delight to watch when
one does favor us with a visit,
as observed by a friend I a s t
spring. Its special diheA-al man-
ner of flight, with wings h e l d
just above the horizontal in a
distinctive open V-shape, distin
guishes it immediately even
in the far distance as we scan
the skies. A vulutre's wing -span
is nearly that of an eagle, to
seven- ty inches, and it • spreads
wide the feathers at its wing -t i p
s, like fingeus, to take full
advan- tage of 'the air currents. A
short trip into New. Jersey and
Penn- sylvania will be immediately
re- warding if one wishes to see
first hand the spectacular flight
of these gracefully soaring b i r d
s or be on the lookout over
Long Island for a stray one
passing on
flight. Vultures nest on the g r ou n
d beneath large boulders, in a
hol- low log or tree or under
shrubs. At night 'they, roost together
in trees, sometimes in groups of
a hundred or more, and in t
he early morning hours they can
be seers hunched together on t h
e branches waiting for the sun
to cause thermals of air to -r i s
e which will• enable there to
easily launch forth and to climb
up- wards. on the air currents
with little effot!t on their part,
some- times soaring to great
heights where they glide in circles
within the limits of the thermal.
The flight is almost automatic as
the bird tips from side to side.
For hours at a- time they will
circle the sky, scanning the g; o u n
d below. Their eyesight is
many times more powerful than
human vision and while soari.ig a n
d gliding will suddenly descend
di- r6etIv downward to a dead
ani- Dial even t'iough it may be
small and apparently well hidden
from view. It has been much
discuTsed whether Vultures discern d e a
d animal's by the eye, or are
at- tracted to them by smell.
It certain that they possess
grec powers of smell and `of
vision, and the reasonable conclusion
is that both are of service in
direct- ing t'h e m to t h e i r prey.
The rapidity with which they .c o
n- gregate to a carcass is rema,•
ka- ble. Vast numbers have o f't e
n been seen assembled. If one
de- too soon
slant
de- scends,
others , lowed by others a -til all tl;e
vul- tures which were in the air
for miles around have
conguegated. OPten battles ensue between
vu1- tures for a special meTSel,
but as a rule they are not v e r
y courageous birds and are
often put to flight by birds m u c
h smaller than themselves. Yet,
if unmolested, _they readily
become familiar with I the presence
of man, and some of them s e e
k their food 'even in the streets
of towns, in which they are
useful as
scavengers. It seems to be vultures'
special mission or, office in nature to
re- move carrion from the face
of the earth,. They seldom attack
a living animal but they have
been seen to sit and watch the
ap- proach of death, waiting Tot;
the feast. They gorge themselves
ex- cessively when food is
abundant, till their crop forms' a g r e a
t projection and, often unable
then to rise from the ground, they s.
lit long in a sleepy or half
torpid state to digest their food.
They do not carry food to their
young in their claws but disgorge it
for them from the crop. The
bareness of their head and neck
adapts them for feeding on p u t r i
d flesh, otherwise the:,- f e a t
hers would be a sorry sight, and
they are very careful to preen
and cleanse the parts of their
body and their
plumage. The Turkey Vulture and t
be Black Vul!tuTe are our most
com- mon American vultures. T
h Black Vulture has s h or t e
r, broader wings than the
Turkey Vulture and a short, square
tail Its bare black head and
neck are rather warty in
appearance. In the soubhern states which
it inhabitats it is known as
the Carrion,
Grow. The Turkey Vulture c,•
Red- headed Vulture is also known
as the Turkey Buzzard and has
a bare red -head, long narrow
tail and wings which spread 'to
six feet reaching beyond the t a i
1 when f o l d e d. These birds
of prey, though hawk -like in
fcvrirof body and spread of wing are
far less powerful than their .
rela- tives. They have relatively .
weak feet which cannot seize of
carry also a ca,riou eaicr
ur and a most interesting one.
Th one -time common bird, now
m of ourl rarest, has the
honor being the largest living hawk -
1 b in the United States.
Alm: at a glance, when far distant,
the Condor can be distinguished
in the sky by its enormous size
to fifty inches in length, and i t
s broad wing -sweep to ten feet
from wingtip to wingtip. It is
truly master of the air with a
soaring flight like alf vultures and
great speed. To its young, which
are unable to fly until a year
old, It is a most affectionate
parent, moth male and female
having very gentle dispositions.
Condors, too, like the B'.ack Vulture
and the Turkey Vultume, have
the bare head and necks, but
they are-•calaured with shades ot
ye- llow, red and
blue. The favorite haunts of
these spectacular binds are in t h
e Mountains of California, 10,000
to 16,000 feet up, nee ting on
inac- cessible rock ledges. I't is
in- Iteresting to note how ancient
a bird it is for its bones are
to be found in anciei-lt caves
of Texas, Nevada and New
Mexico and in Ice Age deposits 'tn
Cali- fornia and Florida. These
lat- ter, it is thought, may be
thb same legendary Thunderbird
of the early Indians of N o r t
h FIELD
OBSERVATIONS Random Reports:
August Moriches Bay —
Orient Hudsonian
Godwit Marbled
Godwit Wilson's
Phalarope Black
Tern Hudsonian
Curlew Loggerhead
Shrike Yellow- Bellied
Flycatch- Baird's
Sandpiper Oven -
Bird Canada
Warbler Buff - Breasted
Sandipipei Oyster-
Catcher King
Rail' Sora
Rail Fire Is•]and
Beach Least
Bittern Yellow - bellied
Flycatcher h
Owl
nks haven
Lab rhead