Twitterpated

I am partial to raptors. From Wikipedia, “A bird of prey or raptor is a bird that hunts for food primarily using its talons. They display a characteristic curved tip to their beak and have superb vision.” Raptors include hawks, harriers, eagles, osprey, kites, buzzards, old world vultures (more on buzzards and vultures in a minute), falcons and the Secretary Bird. The nocturnal raptors or owls are classes separately and I won’t be discussing them today.

Buzzards and vultures are an interesting lot. I recently told a friend that a buzzard or vulture was not a raptor. Seems I was wrong. (GASP!) They are indeed birds of prey. In “the old world”, buzzard is a common name given to hawks. While here in “the new world”, we refer to vultures or condors as buzzards. No matter they are all birds of prey. I find this interesting because vultures and condors are known as scavengers. They do not hunt for their food in the traditional sense. Vultures use their keen eyesight to find dead animals.

The Turkey Vulture is common in my area. Most likely it is common in yours, too. Take a look…

I bet you have seen one of these at some point. They are the most common vulture or buzzard in the Americas. Although it doesn’t have the prettiest face, it is an excellent soaring bird. It flaps its wings only as a necessity, using thermal currents to stay aloft. They fly with their wings tiltied up in a distinctive “V” shape. They are also a very large bird with a wingspan of 6′. I think one of the most interesting things about Turkey Buzzards is its sense of smell. They have a very heightened sense of smell and often use it to find carrion beneath the forest canopy. The next time you see a large black bird flying overhead in a “V” shape, take a closer look. I’ll bet it is a Turkey Vulture!