If there’s a more misunderstood and underappreciated bird than the turkey vulture I certainly don’t know what it would be.
Let’s face it, turkey vultures are a little unsightly with their featherless red scalps and dark, drab plumage, and as such they do take on a morbid-like appearance as they stand hunched over a dead animal on the side of the road, a scene that seems more fitting for a haunting Halloween tale than a day of birdwatching majestic raptors, of sorts, I would say.
I say “of sorts” because turkey vultures aren’t truly considered a raptors by everyone in the birding community but they aren’t completely left out of the terminology as well, making it a bit of a gray area at best but that’s a conversation for another time.
It’s not very common for me to photograph turkey vultures up close and personal perched on an old roadside fence post so when the opportunity presented itself a couple days ago as I was heading home from the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge auto tour route I jumped at the chance and, to be quite honest, I am very glad I did.
What initially started out as just a couple of turkey vultures casually perched just off the road quickly blossomed into as many as 9 before all was said and done with 6 more birds arriving and landing in the general vicinity of my vehicle.
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Unfortunately, most of the vultures ended up being too far away for photographs but the closest one made up for it by putting on quite a show for a few moments, preening and posing for the camera with wings fully spread out and on display.
Several other turkey vultures soon joined in, each one spreading its wings for several minutes as the early morning sun continued to climb higher into the sky.
I noticed all the turkey vultures posing in this manner were positioned in the exact same direction, one with the sun shining directly on their backs and outstretched wings, and for good reason.
It’s not uncommon to find turkey vultures sitting with their wings held open early in the morning like this, referred to as the horaltic pose, to thermoregulate their body temperature with the sun’s rays, essentially warming themselves up as turkey vultures are known to lower their body temperatures at night, as much as 11 degrees Fahrenheit, to conserve energy since their food source is oftentimes unpredictable.
During very hot days and after a good rain turkey vultures also spread their wings to both help dissipate excess heat and to dry out their feathers, respectively.
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It’s a behavior I have rarely seen before and one I’ve never had the opportunity to photograph so the timing of me leaving the auto loop and driving up Forest Street couldn’t have been more perfect.
Turkey vultures are one of those species of birds I wish I could photograph almost daily, they might look unsightly but they are such unique and interesting birds.
I’ve seen them a couple more times on Forest Street since then, mixed in with a plethora of migrating Swainson’s hawks so I have to say the raptor birdwatching on this part of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge has been quite enjoyable the past couple of weeks.
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(Birdwatching For Swainson’s Hawks. For short nature photography tips and interesting stories about the natural world around us, subscribe to our Bear River Blogger channel on YouTube for videos and updates from our travels while out in nature, both on and off of the famed Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.)
