Turkey vultures are a common sight across much of North America circling gracefully on their broad wings or gathered at animal carcasses. But despite their abundance turkey vultures have federal protection making it illegal to harm or kill them. This often surprises people who view turkey vultures as pests. However, there are good reasons these unique birds are shielded from persecution. Their ecological roles and vulnerable life histories warrant continued conservation efforts.
Turkey Vultures Provide Critical Ecosystem Services
The most compelling reason turkey vultures are protected is their invaluable natural services as scavengers. Turkey vultures fill a vital niche by rapidly consuming dead animal remains across the landscape. A flock can strip a carcass clean in under 30 minutes. This waste disposal service curbs the spread of diseases like anthrax and rabies that could otherwise proliferate from decaying animals. By efficiently recycling carrion, turkey vultures maintain a healthier ecosystem for wildlife, livestock, and people alike.
Additionally, turkey vultures help control infectious diseases of livestock such as brucellosis and tuberculosis through their scavenging Cattle ranchers have documented significantly higher disease rates in herds when turkey vulture populations decline So intact turkey vulture populations provide a free, natural disease barrier for farmers and ranchers. Their ecosystem services alone warrant protections.
Turkey Vultures Have Limited Impacts on Livestock
Unlike raptors designed to kill live prey, turkey vultures evolved as obligate scavengers Their diet consists almost solely of carrion Turkey vultures lack the strong feet and talons needed to subdue large living animals. While they may occasionally nip or irritate sick, dying, or extremely young livestock, research shows attacks on healthy animals are very rare.
However, turkeys do sometimes cause problems for farms and ranches by damaging property. Their droppings can damage buildings and vehicles. Large vulture roosts may displace livestock from shelters. But these issues are relatively minor compared to their benefits. Non-lethal harassment, deterrents, and removing attractants like carcasses are effective for dealing with problem vultures while still upholding conservation laws.
Turkey Vultures Possess Unique Adaptations for a Scavenging Lifestyle
To consume carrion as their staple diet, turkey vultures evolved a suite of specialized traits:
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An exceptional sense of smell to detect dead animals from great distances.
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Highly acidic stomach acids that safely digest rotting flesh full of deadly pathogens and poisons.
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A near total immunity to most diseases, parasites, and toxins from decaying carcasses.
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Mostly featherless heads perfectly suited for dipping into messy carcasses.
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Efficient soaring flight allowing them to scan vast areas for scattered carrion sources.
These attributes are key to the unique ecological role turkey vultures fill. Protecting them ensures future generations can continue benefiting from their unparalleled waste removal services.
Turkey Vultures are Slow Breeders With Small, Vulnerable Populations
Turkey vultures mature slowly, first nesting at 4-5 years old. Females then lay only 1-3 eggs per year. These small broods and low reproductive rates make their populations far more vulnerable compared to prolific species like starlings or rodents. Even occasional disruptions to nesting or periodic lethal control efforts can destabilize local turkey vulture numbers. Their inherent vulnerability to persecution and mortality make protections appropriate.
Threats Facing Turkey Vultures
While turkey vulture populations remain relatively stable currently, a variety of anthropogenic threats put their future at risk:
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Illegal killings – Some people continue shooting or poisoning turkey vultures out of perceived conflicts or dislike for their looks and scavenging habits. Even isolated mortalities can impact local breeding success.
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Habitat loss – Development, construction, and resource extraction reduce secluded nesting and roosting sites required by turkey vultures. They are slow to pioneer alternative sites when displaced.
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Collisions – Turkey vultures are prone to striking vehicles when scavenging roadkill. Their low flight also increases collisions with buildings, powerlines, and wind turbines.
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Toxic chemicals – Scavenging carcasses laden with lead ammunition or poisoned rodent baits frequently kills turkey vultures. The birds succumb as they provide their normal waste removal services.
Ongoing conservation efforts to protect habitat, curb poison sources, and increase public awareness can help offset these rising hazards. But consistent protection laws remain essential for ensuring turkey vultures persist and continue providing their quiet yet vital ecosystem services. Their unique natural values make protecting turkey vultures a wise investment in ecological health.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are turkey vultures federally protected?
Turkey vultures receive federal protection under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. This law shields over 1,000 bird species from harm because of their ecological, economic, or intrinsic values as North American avian resources.
What laws prohibit killing turkey vultures?
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal to kill turkey vultures or disturb active nests. Additional state and local laws may also protect vultures year-round and impose fines for harming them.
Do turkey vultures help control diseases?
Yes, by quickly scavenging animal carcasses, turkey vultures significantly reduce risks of contagious livestock diseases like anthrax proliferating across the landscape. Their scavenging provides a free disease control service.
How long do turkey vultures live?
Average turkey vulture lifespan is 10-12 years. The oldest known wild turkey vulture survived over 16 years. Threats like shooting, poisoning, and collisions curtail lifespans below their biological maximum.
Why are turkey vulture populations vulnerable?
Turkey vultures mature slowly, breed infrequently, and produce only 1-3 offspring per year. Even small increases in adult mortality can destabilize populations because of their limited reproductive capacity.
Can turkey vultures be legally harassed?
While killing turkey vultures is prohibited, non-lethal harassment such as using loud noises or scarecrows to drive them away from farms, ranches, or roosts is legal and an effective technique for mitigating conflicts.
Though underappreciated, turkey vultures provide a critical ecosystem service by scavenging waste across North America. Protecting turkey vultures ensures future generations can continue benefiting from their quiet yet vital natural values. When conserved, these unique soaring birds represent a sustainable investment in ecological health.
What is an Animal Ambassador?
The Maryland Zoo refers to its special collection of education program animals as “Animal Ambassadors.” The Zoo currently cares for more than 60 Animal Ambassadors, representing more than 40 species, both native and exotic. These animals are managed separately from the rest of the Zoo’s collection and cannot be seen on exhibit at the Zoo. However, many can be seen up close and personal on a rotating basis at Creature Encounters, the Zoo’s outdoor education center; at camp and school programs at the Zoo; as featured participants in community-based Outreach programs; and at special events on and off Zoo grounds.
Animal Ambassadors spend countless hours working with their human handlers, developing bonds of trust and communication that will allow them to appear in front of audiences large and small. They are not show animals. They behave naturally, focusing audiences’ attention on their natural behaviors and adaptations and giving living, breathing meaning to concepts and topics that students may be studying.
Animal Ambassadors travel all over the state of Maryland and beyond, and many also make local and national media appearances, educating about wildlife while representing the Zoo and its commitments to animal welfare and conservation.
“How I live there”
Turkey vultures are commonly sighted near roadways, open areas such as farms and countryside, and in places where garbage and food are plentiful such as trash heaps, dumps, landfills, and construction sites. At night, they roost in trees or on rock ledges and other high places (including roofs). They often roost in large groups and migrate in even larger groups that may number in the thousands.
First thing in the morning, you may see turkey vultures standing with outstretched wings, presumably warming or drying them in the sun. During the day, they forage for food either on their own or in small groups. They look for carrion and almost never attack live prey. They tend to congregate near dumpsters and roadkill. More than one turkey vulture may gather at a carcass but they take turns feeding, with one chasing others off until it has had its fill. Other species of vulture and raptor may also turn up and, despite their large size, turkey vultures are easily intimidated by competing scavengers.
New World vultures–those from North and South America–are either bald or have very few feathers on their heads. This adaptation allows them to clean themselves more efficiently after scavenging raw meat. All vultures also have strong stomach enzymes and apparently excellent immune systems that allow them to digest rotting meat without contracting botulism or other bacterial illnesses.
If you look up in the sky and see a huge bird that you think might be an eagle but you notice that it is making wobbly circles with its broad wings raised in a V, it is most likely a turkey vulture. Soaring low to the ground or up high on heat thermals, turkey vultures use their keen senses of sight and smell to detect fresh carcasses on the ground, even those that are not visible from the air. The part of their brains dedicated to processing smell is known to be exceptionally large compared to other birds.
The word vulture probably comes from the Latin vellere, which means to pluck or to tear. The scientific name for turkey vulture is more pleasantly poetic. Cathartesaura means “golden purifier.” The colloquial term for vulture in the U.S. is “buzzard.”
Turkey vultures have few natural predators. They can suffer persecution by people who consider them a nuisance or, misguidedly, carriers of disease. (Vultures actually help reduce rather than promote disease.) They can also be poisoned by ingesting meat contaminated by poison or lead shot.
Turkey vultures will feed and roost near humans but prefer to nest in remote, undisturbed areas. They seek out protected rock crevices, caves, hollow logs, fallen trees, or abandoned mammal burrows, nests, or buildings. They do not build nests; rather, females scrape out a slight depression. They lay 1-3 eggs per clutch and incubate the eggs for 28-40 days. After hatching, chicks will stay in the nest for up to 3 months and both parents will care for them. Even after chicks have fledged, family groups will stay together for a few more months. Juveniles are easily recognized by their dark heads and beaks.
Turkey vultures are currently listed as a species of “least concern” by the IUCN, the world’s leading conservation organization. Their population declined during the 20th century, due in part to exposure to the fertilizer DDT, but turkey vultures have since made a comeback across their entire range. They are protected by state law in Maryland and by the federal Migratory Bird Act of 1918. It is illegal to take, kill, or possess a turkey vulture in the U.S., and these birds are protected by similar laws in Canada and Mexico.
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Subphylum: Vertebrata
- Class: Aves
- Order: Accipitriformes
- Family: Cathartidae
- Genera: Cathartes
- Species: aura