Its just a vulture. Nothing realy special about it,jsut the fact that you do not see them aroudn that much.

Yeah, its a vulture. Its mildly suprising to see it perched in such a green tree.

Not a Thunderbird. Not a Pteradon. Not an Alien. Might be a freemason, though...

~Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't vultures bald, hang around things that are about to die, and chill in deserts?

Originally posted by Jeffrey
~Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't vultures bald, hang around things that are about to die, and chill in deserts?

In order of questions:
Sometimes. There are certain breeds with feathered heads, although they are only technically vultures. This one is bald, the lighting is just bad.
Yes and no. That is generally what they eat, but dead things aren't around constantly, so do you expect them to wiped off the face of the earth, then come back when something dies?
No. They live anywhere they can find large dead things. They are commonly found in deserts and savanahs.

Originally posted by Pherophile

Originally posted by Jeffrey
~Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't vultures bald, hang around things that are about to die, and chill in deserts?

In order of questions:
Sometimes. There are certain breeds with feathered heads, although they are only technically vultures. This one is bald, the lighting is just bad.
Yes and no. That is generally what they eat, but dead things aren't around constantly, so do you expect them to wiped off the face of the earth, then come back when something dies?
No. They live anywhere they can find large dead things. They are commonly found in deserts and savanahs.

~I didn't point out anything indicating that they ate ONLY dead things. I just know they hang around the dying whenever possible. Because I'm guessing that's the type of food they prefer. As far as deserts and savannahs, I'm sure a few strays wonder off now n' then right?

Originally posted by Jeffrey
~Nice find. The wings seems to match, but i was noting how there seems to be that stripe missing from it's neck. A male/female trait? Possibly.

Possibly a male/female issue, I'm not big on vultures. What I can tell you is in raptor world there is a lot of different colorings. Take the red-tailed hawk for example. Their are albino hawks (rare though), There are ones that are light tan, a dusty color, going into a normal brown, and some dark browns. Some have red tails, some don't. Some are almost completely solid, or the marks don't stand out well, some are very varied. It varies a little from bird to bird, but it mostly depends on the region of the country its from.

Edit: Yeah, birds aren't the most intelligent things in the world, they can get lost. Or perhaps a territorial battle forced them out. I'm not sure, but I don't think they can capture live prey. They have very strong talons, but aren't agile enough. They are built for soaring, and wouldn't be able to catch but the slowest and sickest animal.

[Edited on 4-11-2003 by Pherophile]

Originally posted by Pherophile

Originally posted by Jeffrey
~Nice find. The wings seems to match, but i was noting how there seems to be that stripe missing from it's neck. A male/female trait? Possibly.

Possibly a male/female issue, I'm not big on vultures. What I can tell you is in raptor world there is a lot of different colorings. Take the red-tailed hawk for example. Their are albino hawks (rare though), There are ones that are light tan, a dusty color, going into a normal brown, and some dark browns. Some have red tails, some don't. Some are almost completely solid, or the marks don't stand out well, some are very varied. It varies a little from bird to bird, but it mostly depends on the region of the country its from.

Edit: Yeah, birds aren't the most intelligent things in the world, they can get lost. Or perhaps a territorial battle forced them out. I'm not sure, but I don't think they can capture live prey. They have very strong talons, but aren't agile enough. They are built for soaring, and wouldn't be able to catch but the slowest and sickest animal.

[Edited on 4-11-2003 by Pherophile]

~Much better. Thanks for clearin' that up Pherophile

these things are COMMON! You can see them at garbage dumps over most of the USA.