By Charlie Fineran

Hi Everyone:

At the end of March, the Photo of the Week, was about the Turkey Vulture, well, as Paul Harvey, (probably dating myself here) used to say, “Here’s the rest of the story”!  The rest od this story is me introducing the second half of Nature’s Aerial Cleanup Up Crew – The Black Vulture!!

BLACK VULTURE – Coragyps atratus

While both birds are on the same ‘Cleanup Team’ and both are vultures, there are some interesting and distinct differences between these two birds.  Black Vultures are scavengers, that feed on carrion, BUT, they also take weak, sick or unprotected young birds and mammals.  Turkey Vultures are strictly carrion eaters, you need to be dead to be dinner!  Black Vultures are also smaller than Turkey Vultures, HOWEVER, what they lack in size, they make up for, in being much more aggressive, even driving Turkey Vultures from a carcass.  Black Vultures depend solely on their acute eyesight to find food.  They actually sometimes will follow Turkey Vultures in finding a meal.  (Turkey Vultures have a keen sense of smell in addition to excellent eyesight)  A Turkey Vulture’s wings are narrower and their tails are longer than a Black Vultures.  Both species are often found perched in trees, on fence posts, and on the ground, or flying high overhead, especially on windy days, taking advantage of thermals or updrafts.

INTERESTING ADDITIONAL COMPARISON & DESCRIPTION (from the web, Cornell Lab of Ornithology) – With sooty black plumage, a bare black head, and neat white stars under the wingtips, Black Vultures are almost dapper.  Whereas Turkey Vultures are lanky birds with teetering flight, Black Vultures are compact birds with broad wings, short tails, and powerful wingbeats.  The two species often associate:  the Black Vulture makes up for its poor sense of smell by following Turkey Vultures to carcasses.  Highly social birds with fierce family loyalty, Black Vultures share food with relatives, feeding young for months after they’ve fledged.

Description: 22-24 inches with a wingspan of 4 ft 6 inches.  They are black with a white patch near each wing tip, conspicuous in flight.  Their heads are bare and grayish-black.  In flight their feet extend beyond the short tail.  Black Vultures also, flaps its shorter and rounder wings, more often and more rapidly than the Turkey Vulture.

Voice:  Hisses or grunts;  seldom heard.

Habitat:  Open country, but breeds in light woodlands and thickets.  NOTE: Open Country, remember, they need to SEE their next meal!! 

Nesting:  2 white or gray-green eggs, blotched with brown, under a bush, in a hollow log, under large rocks, or in a cave.

Range:  More or less residents from Texas and Arkansas north and east to New Jersey (rarely to Massachusetts or Maine) and south to Florida.  Also in American tropics.

DID YOU KNOW??? (from the web, Cornell Lab of Ornithology)

• In the U.S., Black Vultures are outnumbered by their red-headed relatives, Turkey Vultures, but they have a huge range and are the most numerous vulture in the Western Hemisphere.
• Turkey Vultures have an excellent sense of smell, but Black Vultures aren’t nearly as accomplished sniffers. To find food they soar high in the sky and keep an eye on the lower-soaring Turkey Vultures. When a Turkey Vulture’s nose detects the delicious aroma of decaying flesh and descends on a carcass, the Black Vulture follows close behind.
• One-on-one at a carcass, Black Vultures lose out to the slightly larger Turkey Vulture. But flocks of Black Vultures can quickly take over a carcass and drive the more solitary Turkey Vultures away.
• Black Vultures lack a voice box and so their vocal abilities are limited to making raspy hisses and grunts.
• Although Black Vultures and their relatives live only in North and South America, the oldest fossils from this group—at least 34 million years old—were found in Europe.

• The oldest Black Vulture on record was at least 25 years, 6 months old when it was found in 1965 in Louisiana. It was banded there in 1940. They may live even longer in captivity.

Please visit my Flickr Site for more photos of vultures – https://www.flickr.com/photos/charliefineran/albums/72157646172995222 – Turkey Vulture | Flickr – Black Vulture | Flickr

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/black_vulture/overview

Black Vulture Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Enjoy Your Open Space

Charlie Fineran

Director Open Space

Allamuchy Township Environmental Commission – Chairman

Allamuchy Historical Society – President