OT - Buzzards

Judy Glattstein jglatt@hughes.net
Wed, 06 Jun 2007 04:30:54 PDT
What we have here are not vultures, though they are usually so named by 
folks. They're buzzards. And in my part of New Jersey there are two 
species, the typical red-headed turkey buzzard and the (usually 
described as a more Southern species) the black-headed buzzard. Both 
have featherless heads, thought to be an adaptation as gobbets of 
maggot-infested rotting meat would be difficult to clean off feathers. 
Nature's clean-up crew, both species do very well foraging on the dead 
deer along the roadsides, also raccoons, opossums, skunks. In spring the 
black buzzards perch on rooftops as the sun rises in the morning, wings 
outspread as the birds try to warm up. They look positively medieval. 
They often hang out together, so it is not uncommon to see 3, 4, 6, or 
more checking out their next meal. Frequently see them lazing on the 
thermals, massive wings outspread as they gracefully soar.

We also have turkeys in the neighborhood. They are impressive both on 
land and in the air but their take-off is hardly graceful.

Judy in New Jersey where the morning is a deliciously cool 58 degrees 
Fahrenheit, and it looks like it will be a clear sunny day. The weeds 
are loving it.


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