Vultures

Vulture:

"The word 'vulture' likely comes from the Latin vellere, which means to pluck or tear. [The Turkey Vulture's] scientific name, Cathartes aura, is far more pleasant. It means either 'golden purifier' or 'purifying breeze'."

Considered by most a scavenger bird, even though it is grouped within the bird of prey/raptor family. They are actually quite interesting. I have four of them that have a nest close by. Yesterday I watched as one swooped down to capture its prey. It is a very graceful, beautiful bird. And this morning I took the time to look up some facts/myths about them.

There are 23 species of vultures in the world with the exception of Antarctica and Australia. They live almost everywhere including deserts, subtropical forests, wetlands, pastures, and grasslands. There are two main families: The old world vulture who belong to the Accipitridae family and the new world vulture which belongs to the Cathartidae family ...

Old world and new world vultures are not related. They are grouped together because they look similar and are thought to be connected via evolutionary status versus DNA.

New World Vultures :

New World vultures have a distinctive bald head, an adaptation that helps reduce the risks of disease, because bacteria could become lodged in feathers, while the bald head and neck may be disinfected by the sun’s rays. New World vultures have nostrils that are long and horizontal, with a space between them. They do not have a voice box, so they cannot make any sound except hisses and grunts. New World vultures don’t build nests; instead, they lay their eggs in holes on high rocky surfaces or in tree cavities.
Some examples of New World vultures are turkey vultures, black vultures, king vultures, California condors, and Andean condors.

Old World Vultures:

Old World vultures look like their eagle and hawk relatives. They have large, grasping talons, a voice box to vocalize with, and build nests made of sticks on rocky platforms or in trees. Old World vultures have also been around longer than the New World vultures. They have stronger feet than the New World vultures, which have feet that are not designed for grasping, and large, broad wings that allow them to stay aloft for most of the day, and a large, powerful beak with a hooked tip.
Some other examples of Old World vultures are Himalayan, Egyptian, hooded, Indian black, and palm-nut vultures, and Egyptian or Eurasian griffons...

Symbolism:
Loyal
Serious
Patience
Tolerance
Renewal
Equalizing
Cleanliness
Perceptive
Protection
Impervious
Unconventional
Resourcefulness

IF VULTURE HAS FLOWN ACROSS YOUR PATH;
Vulture is asking you to be patient with yourself and think things through. Take your time before making decisions and choose paths that support your higher consciousness and your heart. Use all of your resources combined with your past experience to approach the problem from a different angle.

IF VULTURE IS YOUR ANIMAL TOTEM;
You know how to use your own energy powerfully and efficiently. You have the ability to see auras and colors around people with your higher vision and you know how to use patience a s a means to an end. You easily go with the flow of those around you yet are fiercely protective of those you feel responsible for. You have keen insight into most situations.

IF VULTURE HAS COME INTO YOUR DREAM;
To see this bird in your dream symbolizes purification and insight. It suggests that your past experiences will provide you with invaluable insight into a current situation or problem. Learn from your past ...

Quick Facts:
• A vulture can eat up to 1 kilogram (about 2 pounds) in a single meal (that’s over 10% of their body weight).
• In Germany, police have trained turkey vultures to help them finding missing people.
• Vultures are the ultimate recyclers – able to strip a carcass in just a few hours, they keep our environment clean and disease free.
• Turkey vultures have the best smell of nearly any animal but African vultures rely solely on eyesight to find carrion.
• Egyptian vultures eat ostrich eggs and actually use rocks or sticks to crack their thick shells.
• The Rueppell’s griffon vulture is the world’s highest flying bird. In 1973, one collided with an airplane off the Ivory Coast; at the time, the plane was flying at 37,000 feet.
• Vultures are equipped with a digestive system that contains special acids that will dissolve anthrax, botulism, and cholera bacteria.
• Black Vultures are “family-oriented” birds – they feed their young for up to eight months after their young have fledged and often stay together in family groups.
• The legs of vultures are usually coated white, due to the dried uric acid of their excrement. Vultures will mute – excrete waste – onto their legs, serving two different purposes:
1.In warm weather, muting on their legs serves as part of their thermoregulation – it helps to cool down their body temperature.
2.When vultures step into a carcass, touching possibly contaminated flesh, they risk tracking bacteria around on their legs. The vultures will excrete onto their legs, and the highly acidic uric acids kill off bacteria and toxins that may be on the bird’s legs.
• Vultures can live to be 25 years old.
• A group of Vultures is known as a ‘venue’ and when the group is seen in the air, circling together, it is called a ‘kettle’...



Many legends and myths surrounding the vulture. Egyptians associated them with the gods/goddesses of the time. A list of which ones and how they were associated with vultures ...

In Egyptian mythology, vultures were not just scavenging birds, but symbols of femininity and maternal protection. When the goddess Nekhebet of Upper Egypt became associated with the vulture headdress, the bird evolved into a heraldic symbol for all of Upper Egypt.

In Native American legends/myths, the vulture played some pivotal roles in their storytelling. A list of stories ...

To the people of the pre-conquest Americas, the vulture or buzzard was one of the more prevalent animals. It was known to clans across the country. This bird is credited with assisting in some of the more important tasks - including the creation of the land and the efforts to bring fire to the first people.

There is more to be found on the vulture. The bird has touched pretty much every culture around the world and been written about in many of them. This is not the complete story...it is only a small introduction.

As always, thanks for reading...
blend57

I have no problem with them, and actually have some cool pictures of them. (Turkey Vultures)

But even though I know they are looking for dead things, I still scare them from flying over my coop, with the .410.
Never hit one, but it scares them off.

They must really be trying to send me a message, since they "fly across my path" about 2-3 times a week!

Interested thread! Thank you.

a reply to: blend57

Great thread. That first picture is quite majestic. Have you heard of the sky burials?

I was driving down the highway one day and saw a big bird eating a dead dear on the highway. It took off and looked like a turkey vulture. I looked up pictures and told my friend and his wife along with my wife I had seen a turkey vulture next to the airport. They laughed at me and said I was seeing things, I said it must have been an eagle but it looked like a vulture. They said maybe I needed more coffee, there are no vultures around here.

Three weeks later there was an article in the paper about turkey vultures being seen there, they still said people were seeing things when I brought that up. Then the DNR verrified they were turkey vultures by the DNA from a feather or something, then they said it must be a freak bird that came here. That was twenty years or more ago, those freak birds decided to multiply, when I was picking raspberries one day there must have been thirty of them sitting on the high power poles near the power line. I usually do not pick raspberries there because of spraying, but they hadn't sprayed for about three years, I hope the agent white was gone by that time.

Funny how so many people deny things right away unless officially accepted evidence is shown. There are a lot of cougars around here, they all got here in one month about six years ago when the DNR finally admitted they were here. Everyone who saw them before that got laughed at.

That is the story of our new world, people cannot believe things unless someone with credentials say's it is true and shows evidence that is considered acceptable.

I wish I had never said I had seen the vultures that time to anyone, I guess I was not too smart back then, not realizing how narrow minded people are.

And, when you got around thirty vultures watching you from the power poles, it is real creepy. You start to wonder, are they waiting for me to die? You start to wonder if they know something you don't.

knowledgehunter0986

I have not heard of sky burials..if you would please explain further, I would be interested to know more.

chiefsmom

So far, they have not been bothersome for us either. But you do worry about your animals so I can understand keeping them away from the coops.

Thanks for the responses/thoughts..
blend57

a reply to: blend57

Well in a nutshell; people in Tibet are feeding dead corpses to a group of vultures in some type of burial ritual. If I remember correctly, they believe the vultures are the reincarnation of their families. It's very very graphic, I was thinking about making a thread about it. Maybe I will as you've just inspired/reminded me

knowledgehunter0986
I read something about that in one of the "Vulture fact" websites I went to. But I didn't include it here..lol. If you do make a thread about it..please let me know, I would be interested in reading through it.

Thanks,
blend57

Everything about a vulture is designed to perfection. Their wide wing span for soaring hi above, their telescopic vision to spot carrion from afar, their teamwork used to drive other predators from a kill, their long necks to reach deep inside a carcass and sharp curved beaks to surgically remove the last meat from bone. Hi lift to weight ration so they can carry large loads in their expansive stomachs.

What an informative thread.

Thanks for gracing the boards with your revelations...

images

I always look up to identify raptors, we have red tail hawks nesting near our complex, they hunt the squirrels that proliferate.

Once in a great while I spy, way up high, the sure sign signature of a California Condor, a great black wing span with white blotches on the underside of its wings.

images

a reply to: blend57

Thank you Blend!
Interesting the German police's training them.
I loved the first picture, would make a cool enough avatar...I think.

originally posted by: knowledgehunter0986
a reply to: blend57

Well in a nutshell; people in Tibet are feeding dead corpses to a group of vultures in some type of burial ritual. If I remember correctly, they believe the vultures are the reincarnation of their families. It's very very graphic, I was thinking about making a thread about it. Maybe I will as you've just inspired/reminded me

Its harder to bury their dead in the Tibetan hi lands, the mountain are made of rock. So they leave their bodies on an outcrop for the vultures.

a reply to: intrptr

Makes sense. The graphic image of a dead corpse literally dying even more is just.. lol.

originally posted by: knowledgehunter0986
a reply to: intrptr

Makes sense. The graphic image of a dead corpse literally dying even more is just.. lol.

We are all carrion...

And yes its become a custom or ritual depending on your perspective. Different cultures...

graphic images , not for the squeamish

TNMockingbird

I like the first pic..but the third one is my favorite...I keep thinking about how much the Klingon's bird of prey ship resembles it..lmao.





at least it does to me....

a reply to: blend57
Nope. You're right it DOES resemble it...coincidence?
I think not!
LOL

My office wound up with a "mascot" last fall. For some reason, a turkey vulture decided the balcony outside my boss's office was the place to hang out in the afternoons. It sort of came back every day at the same time, so we gave it a name while it sat there staring through the window over my boss's computer monitor.

We chose Dante because it was a mix of urban bad @ss and underworld creepy.

Dante was unimpressed and continued to sun his wings and groom and stare in at us every day.

great thread.
there are a few turkey vultures around here and my daughter and i are obsessed with them.
a few weeks ago we pulled down our street and one of those big mother #ers were just chilling and smashing on something. i stopped and we watched and i got a pic of him as soon as he jumped off and his wingspan is huge.
i love that bird.

we always see him cruising overhead and its awesome. so graceful.
they dont even pump their wings man they just keep em out and ride the thermals....

my daughter and i have a weird habit of naming all the animals around we see.
there are 2 turkey vultures we see and we call them johannsen and onde.
she gets so excited when she sees them.

we have a groundhog we call furry butt. a squirrel with an orange tail we call seamus and another we call jumpy.

i love that vulture man. i wish i could keep him in a monster kick ass cage in the house