Vultures

[00:00:00] Alex Re: Hello. Welcome to On Wildlife. I'm your host, Alex Re. On this podcast, we bring the wild to you. We take you on a journey into the life of a different animal every week, and I guarantee you you're going to come out of here knowing more about your favorite animal than you did before. Today, we're talking about a special kind of bird that you may think of as a little gross.

[00:00:23] I don't know if this episode is going to change your mind about that. But I do know that you'll have a greater appreciation for what these animals do for our environment. So let's learn how to clean up our surroundings as we talk about vultures.

[00:00:53] Before we start the episode, I want to give a shout out to Darren from Honolulu, Hawaii for suggesting that I cover vultures. There are 23 different species of vultures still around today, and they're separated into two groups, Old World and New World. Old World species live in Europe, Africa, and Asia.

[00:01:15] There are 16 different species. The other seven species, which are New World, live in the Americas. So vultures can be found on every continent except Antarctica and Australia. Now, the two different groups are actually different from each other genetically. New world vultures are closely related to storks, while old world vultures are more closely related to hawks.

[00:01:44] Something else that separates them is how they vocalize. New world species don't have a structure in their throat called a syrinx, which helps birds make their calls. So the new world species can only really make grunts and hisses, while the old world species can make a lot more sounds. One of the most widespread vultures, and the species that you might be thinking of, is a turkey vulture.

[00:02:10] They can be found from Canada all the way to South America. And you can identify them by their red heads. The largest vulture species is called the Andean condor. Side note, some people call vultures condors, but that name can also be associated with specific vulture species too. So the Andean condor can get to be over 30 pounds in weight and have a wingspan that's 11 and a half feet long.

[00:02:40] That's like three coffee tables put together. Vultures are also pretty long lived and are known to live until they're around 25. A group of vultures is called a kettle and a group that's feeding is called a wake. Speaking of feeding, one of the defining characteristics of vultures is what they eat.

[00:03:01] Vultures are scavengers. This means that they feed on animals that are already dead and decaying. We call the flesh of decaying animals carrion. It's thought that their name comes from the Latin term velere. This means to pluck or tear, and we're going to be talking about their diet all throughout the episode because it's a huge part of the characteristics that they have.

[00:03:26] Vultures are easily distinguishable by their bald head and neck area, and some believe that this baldness makes for much easier cleanup after they rummage through remains because they don't have to get all the meat out of their feathers. There's also evidence that their bald heads help with thermoregulation, which means keeping a stable body temperature.

[00:03:48] They can position their head and neck closer to their bodies in order to retain heat, and move it further away in order to cool themselves down. Isn't that amazing? Vultures are considered carnivores because they only eat meat. And depending on the species, they rely on different senses in order to find their food.

[00:04:09] Turkey vultures have the most developed sense of smell of not only any species of vulture, but any bird species in the world. Most birds have very similar senses of smell to us, but research has shown that turkey vultures can smell carrion from over a mile away. They're able to do this because they have an enlarged olfactory bulb on their brain, which is the part of the brain that helps them with smell.

[00:04:37] Unlike turkey vultures, other species, like the black vulture, rely on their keen eyesight to find food. And something you may have seen before is a group of vultures circling in the air. They can do this for hours at a time, thanks to their huge wingspans. There are actually a lot of reasons why they do this.

[00:04:57] One of the reasons is because they circle their food, waiting for the prime opportunity to go down and eat it. It can also give them time to examine the area and make sure that what they're about to eat is actually dead. Vultures will never attack a live animal, maybe unless it's really sick or injured.

[00:05:18] Another reason why they circle is because it attracts other vultures. You might think that they want the food all to themselves, but having other vultures around makes it easier to eat their meals. Vultures also circle in order to use wind currents to help them fly. If you watch them in the air, you'll notice that they barely flap their wings.

[00:05:39] This helps them reserve as much energy as they can. And in the sky, there are air pockets that help lift them up without having to flap. If you want to identify a vulture in the air, you can tell that they wobble when they're flying and don't flap their wings very often. Vultures are considered birds of prey, but their beaks are weaker than other birds of prey.

[00:06:03] So, if a dead animal's skin is too tough for them, they'll wait until other scavengers have opened the body first. Their beaks are long and hooked, which is great for tearing flesh and ripping it from difficult to reach areas like between ribs. The thinness of their beaks is what makes them weak, though.

[00:06:23] They also lack strong, powerful talons that falcons and hawks have. Their talons are long and blunt because they're mainly used for balancing and walking on the bodies that they feed from. When there's a lot of food, vultures are known to gorge themselves, meaning that they'll eat a huge amount of food at once.

[00:06:42] They'll eat until their crop swells up. And a crop is a place in their throat that helps them store excess food. Most vultures eat just the meat of their victims, but the bearded vulture also eats their prey's bones. They'll usually carry the bones for their young to feed on, too. And this particular species has been known to attack live animals.

[00:07:06] An important question you might be asking yourself is, How are these vultures able to eat decaying meat without getting sick? If you ate a piece of steak that started to decay, you'd probably develop botulism, which is a disease caused by bacteria that attacks the nervous system and is life threatening.

[00:07:25] That's one of the reasons why foods have expiration dates. But vultures don't have to worry about that, because they naturally produce antibodies against that specific bacteria. They're also immune to salmonella, anthrax poisoning, and cholera. Vultures also have really corrosive stomach acid that's able to digest decaying material.

[00:07:48] So far, they have a lot of really cool adaptations that help them survive. And when we get back, We'll talk about vultures social structure.

[00:08:09] The science word that I want to tell you about today is enzyme. An enzyme is a type of protein in your body that helps speed up reactions. They can help you digest your food, replicate your DNA, and much more.

[00:08:31] Most vultures are monogamous, meaning that they mate for life, coming back to the same partner every year. Turkey vultures have a traditional mating dance. in which a bunch of males gather and stand in a circle while hopping. The birds leave the circle and fly off in pairs to mate. Clutches consist of roughly two eggs, and both parents help incubate for anywhere between 28 and 40 days.

[00:08:59] The hatchlings are altricial, meaning that they rely fully on mom and dad after hatching. They're born blind and flightless, and they develop their flight feathers between 9 and 10 weeks. But they won't leave the nest for another 20 to 40 days. In order to feed their young, the mothers don't carry food back to them with their talons.

[00:09:21] Instead, they regurgitate it from their crops. New World vultures also don't build nests. They utilize crevices in flat terrain like caves and rocky ledges. Old World vultures make nests with larger sticks on rocky platforms and trees. They tend to nest between March and June because they prefer the warmer weather.

[00:09:44] Vultures may seem like the loner type, but they're interestingly very social animals. They're known to fly together in groups and can be found sitting together at community roosts. Even different species of vultures will sit together. As I mentioned earlier, they like to feed in larger groups and this speeds up the process of ripping flesh off the carcasses.

[00:10:08] Because vultures live in all kinds of different environments, They could have to deal with both hot and cold temperatures. I mentioned at the beginning of the episode that they can position their head and neck to warm and cool themselves. But they also do something called horaltic posing. This is where they sit with their wings spread wide open.

[00:10:29] They often do this in the mornings because it helps them expose more of their body to the Sun, which in turn warms them up. They also have a strategy for cooling down that is effective, but pretty gross. They practice urohydrosis, a behavior where birds defecate on their legs to cool themselves down.

[00:10:49] It's also displayed in storks, which are some of their closest relatives. But it also has another benefit than just keeping warm. Being a scavenger and feeding on decaying material can cause a lot of bacterial growth on the body. The uric acid in their waist kills off the bacteria that may get onto their legs.

[00:11:10] And the odd behaviors don't stop there. When New World vultures are threatened, one of their defense mechanisms is to vomit. By doing this, they lighten their stomach load, which makes it easier to fly. It also scares away predators. Not only from the gross smell, but it can hurt to get in your eye because their stomach acid is so strong.

[00:11:32] They can shoot their vomit out ten feet through the air. I'll let you try to get that image out of your head while we take our last break.

[00:11:52] Time for our trivia question. Which of these animals has a brain? Jellyfish, sponges, or worms?

[00:12:10] The answer is Worms.

[00:12:14] Although vultures have some behaviors that we view as disgusting, their importance to the ecosystem cannot be understated. They're basically the cleaners of the environment. By eating carrion, they actually prevent the spread of disease to other animals that don't have immunity. They also help in the decomposition process, which puts nutrients back into the soil and promotes the growth of plants.

[00:12:48] Vultures aren't the only animals who feed on carcasses. A lot of insects like flies do the same thing. So by eating carcasses, vultures help to keep the population of these insects in check as well. They can also be helpful to humans. Because they're attracted to the smell of ammonia, they can actually be indicators that there's a gas leak nearby.

[00:13:12] They've been seen circling gas pipes where a leak is occurring, which helps to identify and stop harmful chemicals from being released. Now, there are a lot of people who are misinformed about vultures, thinking that they spread diseases, when they really do the exact opposite. This has led to humans trying to get rid of vultures from places where there are a lot of people around.

[00:13:35] And some people have resorted to using lead poisoning, which is their leading cause of injury right now, in an attempt to eradicate them. This not only hurts them, but other wildlife as well. Eleven vulture species are endangered or critically endangered, according to the IUCN Red List. A species called the hooded vulture is critically endangered.

[00:13:58] It gets its name from a cluster of fluffy feathers along the course of its neck, which sort of look like a bunched up hood. This vulture is known to show little to no fear of humans, often hunting in residential areas. Because of this, they're really vulnerable to being poisoned and hunted. In some African cultures, it's believed that vulture body parts help cure illnesses, which is another reason why they're killed.

[00:14:25] Another one of the problems that they're facing is the avian flu, which is a disease that they can get from eating other bird carcasses. So I know they're not the cutest animals, but they really do need our help. If you want to learn more about how to help vultures, check out the Vulture Conservation Foundation, African Wildlife Foundation, and the National Audubon Society.

[00:14:48] Thank you so much for coming on this adventure with me as we explored the world of vultures. You can find the sources that we use for this podcast And links to organizations that we reference at onwildlife.org. You can also email us with any questions at onwilonwildlife.podcast at gmail.com you can follow us on Instagram at on underscore wildlife or on TikTok at On Wildlife.

[00:15:14] And don't forget to tune in next month for another awesome episode. And that's On Wildlife.

[00:15:26] Jess Avellino: You've been listening to On Wildlife with Alex Re. On Wildlife provides general educational information on various topics as a public service, which should not be construed as professional, financial, real estate, tax, or legal advice. These are our personal opinions only. Please refer to our full disclaimer policy on our website for full details.