This has felt like an unusually long month for me. Pretty much been on the go since the start, dog shows, our annual medical appointments, family events, more dog shows and every time I managed to find a slot, I was out on the trail. With Ruger’s recent competition over the weekend, the back to back schedule pressure is finally lifted for a couple of weeks. This will give me more time to get ready for the upcoming ultra and finally make some progress on a mega Halloween prop taking shape in my basement (fingers crossed Linda doesn’t go down there and see her basement covered in foam shavings). In tribute to the Vultures circling impatiently overhead while on my long run today, Brad is going to bring us another adventure from their travels east. May I recommend putting on Meatloaf’s Paradise by the Dashboard Light while enjoying this “fresh” post (link here)! (…and still pissed they replaced Patti Russo with an actress for the I’d Do Anything For Love video).
Take it away Brad…
I bet the title conjured up one of two songs from the 1970’s. Jungle Love by The Steve Miller Band, or Muskrat Love by the Captain and Tennille. Both used synthesizers. I just wanted to see if I could get a song going in your heads, like the Gulls, Gulls, Gulls from last year.
Why does nearly everything interesting that happens in a tree, happen in the middle of a bunch of leaves and twigs? I mean, c’mon! Can’t anyone actually hop to the end of an exposed branch and go through the poses to make bird photography easier? It’s just a few photos and a microsecond of your day. No? Well, OK. See if I make your photos flattering or not.
Actually, with today’s birds, I’m not sure there is a way to make the photos flattering.
Jan and I were on a Bird Walk through the Audubon Newhall Preserve on Hilton Head Island. The guide was talking about cedar knees and the red-cockaded woodpecker nest hole we had just passed. There was a very slight breeze blowing through the treetops. But not quite enough of a breeze to make the noise that was happening directly above us. One of the other birders pointed overhead and said there was a large black bird in the tree. At first, I thought it was a crow. Naturally, Jan and I pointed our cameras skyward as the other birders grabbed their binoculars. The guide had lost all of us for a moment.
At first, all I could see was one large black bird through the viewfinder. I was happily snapping away when it “skooched” to its left, my right
Hit the jump to see what I saw.
A second very large bird came into view. How often will you see a Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus) perched in a longleaf pine tree about 15 feet above the ground near a nature trail? Hmmm? How about two of them? Go on . . . I’m waiting . . . Not very often is the answer.
These two must have known each other because they went into the vulture equivalent of what looked like a lip lock.
First base. Looks like this one is trying to stretch it into a double.
No dice. That’s far enough buster
The “kiss” is actually preening. Vultures help close family members, breeding mates, or even other bird species, preen feathers they are unable to get to. This is also called “allopreening”. Since Black Vultures primarily eat carcasses of large animals, they need a little help cleaning those parts they can’t reach themselves. Allopreening is a social event for some birds, and very similar to grooming done by monkeys and apes. Not the most loquacious of birds; Black Vultures are limited to grunts and hisses for audio-social interactions.
After only a few seconds of “pecking” each other on the cheek, the activity stopped. Then they both looked around to see if any of their vulture friends caught them in the act.
Are you sure no one saw us?
Their sense of smell is not nearly as keen as their larger red-headed cousins the Turkey Vulture (or TV). Black Vultures tend to soar at higher altitudes, keeping an eye on the Turkey Vultures circling below. Once the TVs dive to a meal, the Black Vultures aren’t far behind. We know they gorge themselves when food is available (been there, done that at Thanksgiving).
Black Vultures are known to regurgitate food for a couple of different reasons. Often, they will eat so much they become too heavy to fly. To lighten the load, they take a page from the ancient Romans and bring a little back up. Black Vultures will also regurgitate as a defense mechanism if threatened, though I’m not really sure how this helps. Neither activity is really socially acceptable, and yet more reasons to keep those feathers clean.
A pair of vultures will raise one brood of 1-3 chicks per year, usually nesting directly on the ground in a protected location. Incubation is just short of 40 days and nesting can be another 70-100 days. Gads! Will these kids ever leave? Mated pairs of Black Vultures are monogamous, often sticking together year-round for many years.
They can live up to 25 years in the wild. Their population is actually increasing, albeit ever so slightly. Black Vultures can be found across the southeastern US, most of Mexico, and all but the furthest tip of South America. All the more important to find cleaning friends early in life.
Thank you for reading. If you want to see more Black Vulture photos, please visit here.
Credits Thanks again to Jan and Allyson for proofreading and editing. Thanks to Jan for some of the photos in this article.
Wildlife Intrigued 
Such sweet love birds. Good luck on training through turkeys and tree roots of all evil. Sounds like you are outdoing your self with a mega prop.
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Sort of an oxymoronic view of them. Thanks Tim.
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True.
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The prop is coming together, although slower than I had envisioned – which is directly linked to how much BIGGER it is than envisioned – oh well, it keeps me busy and out of trouble for the most part.
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A bit of scope creep creeping up on you?
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Not only creeping up on me, bashing me over the head and beating me with PVC pipe. Nothing new of course, happens EVERY year ha.
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I put together a kittywheel on Saturday. It came in lots and lots a pieces. Rugar could probably show our fat cats how to run on it
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I finally saw that kitty wheel – very impressive! Can you hook it up to your power lines and harness the extra kitty power?
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Thanks, would be nice.
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Nice to catch a Vulture pair like this. 👍👍.
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Thanks Ted. I’m sure it’s more common than I think it is. But on our whirlwind tour of the southeast, we were very glad to capture it.
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Well captured and well shared.
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Thank you very much.
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Nice, Brad. They just want you to practice some dexterity skills, like manual focusing through the branches. Thank goodness for focus peaking! Yeah, it really works.
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Thanks Jerry. Focusing with my thumb while holding the big glass was challenging. The cameras never quite locked on through the twigs.
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I like buzzards. Yes, I am weird. Even when young, I was fascinated watching the big birds soar in ever-widening circles. Even now that I am old, I am still intrigued with the courting, mating, hunting – all aspects of their lives.
Reckon I need to look into getting a tee-shirt emblazoned with “Vulture Culture!”.
Great photos of the love birds.
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I think vulture culture is a winner!
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Thanks Wally. No, you aren’t weird. But I’d worry if too many of them start following you around.
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….or circling overhead on your long runs…although that might just be me ha.
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Thanks for the insight regarding allopreening – I totally got that wrong the last time I posted about Black Vultures, putting it down to affection. Great job getting through the branches to help us see this couple up close. They really do like the high perches. I’ve noticed they have a habit of sitting totally still on a heavily shaded branch until I walk underneath. Then they wait till I’m just past their perch, and they hiss loudly. I about jumped out of my skin the first time I heard that. Very spooky, not birdlike at all!
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I was also surprised at their lack of civilized vocabulary; not even sure Merlin recognizes hisses. This photo session was definitely a “study in twigs” and “How NOT to use AF in trees”. Maybe two new books in the Photography Series offered by Wildlife Intrigued. I know Brian has one in the works as we speak. 😉 At first I though it might be affection, but then realized I was projecting human emotions onto birds, vultures no less. I never thought it was something as practical as group cleaning. Thanks Sam!
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Whoa, whoa, whoa — literally stop the presses ha!
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How accommodating of those two to tolerate a bunch of people with binoculars and cameras directly underneath their perch. I, too, would have been thrilled, especially since I’m only familiar with their red-headed cousins.
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I was thinking the same thing Tanja. There were only a few cameras clicking (mainly Jan and I), but mostly people helping to get others in the group to find them among the leaves. We have the red-headed cousins (there’s a joke in there somewhere) flying overhead nearly constantly where we are. They are a fair bit larger than the pair we saw in the trees this time, adding to my initial confusion over what I was seeing. That shows how much I’m still learning. Thanks Tanja.
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With 11.017 bird species, there will always be more to learn for all of us! We only the red-headed relatives in Colorado and I look forward to my first meeting with a black-headed individual.
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The benefit of our favorite hobbies – always more to learn.
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I’m betting a predator does not want to attempt to eat a sick prey in case it’s poisoned etc.
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Could be. Or hang around with someone who has food stuck to their face. 😉 Probably helps keep the whole flock healthier, but I’m not going to get close enough to find out.
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Great pictures of them, Brad! That’s a bird I’ve never seen. Lots of Turkey Vultures around here.
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Thanks! Worth a trip to find them, and many others, mostly in the southeastern US. Plus it was warmer in SC than IL during February, always a bonus.
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We at Intrigued encourage any and all travel outside of IL in the winter months!
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Some birds are best left unseen hehehehe. Definitely do not want them hanging around too close to you or you might be in trouble.
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