Saturday, October 13, 2007

Turkey Vulture Culture

Krissy did it.  Krissy made Google come up with the right answer. She asked the right question and got this site: Turkey Vultures.

Yes, those are the babies. And the site shows a picture of over a hundred soaring in one flock. Joan, are you as impressed as I?  Makes my colony of twenty seem pretty puny.

Kern County, the location of the Turkey Vulture Counting project, is part of our central California valley. I think those hundred Turkey Vultures pictured were headed from Mexico to the Eucalyptus trees on my street.

No wonder the neighbors are complaining. They don't know they are a natural habitat for migrating Turkey Vultures.  

Mice and gopher snakes of Merced, beware. Your days are numbered.

Question: how many mice can one hundred Turkey Vultures eat in one week? 

P.S. The Turkey Vulture Watch people have counted as many as 30,000 Turkey Vultures over the San Joaquin Valley. That is thirty thousand.

P.P.S.  One more comment about Turkey Vultures, and this should be my last. I thought they were Turkey Vultures because of what they ate. Not so.  It is because their bald, featherless vulture heads resemble turkeys. They are named for what they look like, not what they eat.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't know how many mice one hundred Turkey Vultures eat in one week, but there is probably a way to google that, Chuck, LOL.  But I am too tired, LOLOLOL.  Glad I could be of help.  :)

Krissy :)
http://journals.aol.com/fisherkristina/SometimesIThink

Anonymous said...

     I hate mice. Send them my way.
Jude
http://journals.aol.com/jmorancoyle/MyWay

Anonymous said...

until they are full! did I win?

Anonymous said...

I looked it up on keyword and came to the same conclusion that they were Turkey Vultures but was not 100% sure and I don't like to argue if I am not sure.  Thanks for trying to find out for me. If you see more point your camera up at them I would love to see them. We don't have vultures of any kind here but we had an escaped White Backed Vulture from a falconery that sat up a tree and would not come down for anybody all last  week.  thanks again Chuck. LOve Joan.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I see you already found out all about them.  But yes, as scavengers, they probably wouldn't eat a turkey unless they happened to find a dead one.

Anonymous said...

You've come up with some wierd topics, Chuck.

This one is really for the birds!