Terry Suchma
03-06-2008, 01:36 PM
Dear Birding Friends,
I knew all of you in the northern areas that have resident vultures in the summer wonder where your vultures go in the winter time. I think about it all the time. NOT! This story tells us they go to Bartow, FL. The local residents think that they have all the wintering flock of vultures in their community and the birds are wreaking havoc. They are ripping the rubber off of cars, scratching the cars in doing so as well as ripping into house shingles.
Can you believe it? I can't!
Below is a newstory about a large roost of vultures that have decided that Bartow is their winter roosting area. Just like martins at roosts in the US and in South America, too much of a bird species is trouble. It is trouble for the locals but also the numbers of vultures and their sanitation engineering creates havoc as well as a terrible smell.
Just a note about vultures. They defecate on their feet to protect their feet as they eviserate the bodies of their prey. And, their heads are bald. And, why? So that no feathers are dirtied as they stick their bald heads into their prey foods. It is just natural sanitation for these environmental engineers. They are smarter than they look.
Here is the article, complete with video if you have the flash player required:
Vultures lay siege to small Polk County town
Bartow neighbors find their wings clipped in dealing with smelly, protected buzzards.
BARTOW, FL - An army of ravenous vultures is invading this quiet Polk community, ripping shingles from rooftops, chewing on the rubber linings of car doors and windows, and leaving behind an overwhelming stench from their waste.
And, by the way, if you see a bird news story, please feel free to post. Just do not post the entire article or we could be looking at copyright infringements. Post the first paragraph and use the address on the web as a hyperlink, just as I have do it here.
Vultures lay siege to Bartow, Florida (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-vultures0508mar05,0,6955130.story)
I knew all of you in the northern areas that have resident vultures in the summer wonder where your vultures go in the winter time. I think about it all the time. NOT! This story tells us they go to Bartow, FL. The local residents think that they have all the wintering flock of vultures in their community and the birds are wreaking havoc. They are ripping the rubber off of cars, scratching the cars in doing so as well as ripping into house shingles.
Can you believe it? I can't!
Below is a newstory about a large roost of vultures that have decided that Bartow is their winter roosting area. Just like martins at roosts in the US and in South America, too much of a bird species is trouble. It is trouble for the locals but also the numbers of vultures and their sanitation engineering creates havoc as well as a terrible smell.
Just a note about vultures. They defecate on their feet to protect their feet as they eviserate the bodies of their prey. And, their heads are bald. And, why? So that no feathers are dirtied as they stick their bald heads into their prey foods. It is just natural sanitation for these environmental engineers. They are smarter than they look.
Here is the article, complete with video if you have the flash player required:
Vultures lay siege to small Polk County town
Bartow neighbors find their wings clipped in dealing with smelly, protected buzzards.
BARTOW, FL - An army of ravenous vultures is invading this quiet Polk community, ripping shingles from rooftops, chewing on the rubber linings of car doors and windows, and leaving behind an overwhelming stench from their waste.
And, by the way, if you see a bird news story, please feel free to post. Just do not post the entire article or we could be looking at copyright infringements. Post the first paragraph and use the address on the web as a hyperlink, just as I have do it here.
Vultures lay siege to Bartow, Florida (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-vultures0508mar05,0,6955130.story)