September 2, 1962 - Vultures
Vultures
Exclusive Sunday Review Sketch by Melita Hofmann of Orient
Focus on Nature by Paul Stoutenburgh, Cutchogue
By MELITA HOFMAN
"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 Shrike