# Turkey Vulture **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 1, 2016, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-vulture/750844 "2016-04-01T17:27:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-vulture/750844/1 "2016-04-01T17:27:53Z")
I just saw a big old Turkey vulture in a huge tree a yard away from mine. Kinda big. Kinda weird looking. And, considering I live right downtown, in a city of 365,000, it’s kinda odd too! I’m going to buy a lottery ticket! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-vulture/750844/2 "2016-04-01T17:48:13Z")
Several are almost constantly in view out my window, along with Black Vultures. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-vulture/750844/3 "2016-04-01T18:07:52Z")
I think of them like Canada geese. When I was a kid in the seventies, I remember a bit of a sense of awe when they first showed up at the lake. Now the little poop machines are everywhere. The first ones I saw in the Twin Cities were outside of my work. I worked in a tall building next to a large park in the city of Bloomington, and they loved just hanging out in the updrafts against the building. Like a bald eagle, so powerful and majestic. But like a bald eagle where somebody shoved it’s head in to a vat of boiling oil. Dear gawd they are scary ugly. There is an area north of Hayward Wisconsin that has a heavy deer population and a lot of car/deer accidents, and I’ve noticed that the vultures are there all of the sudden. Smart birds. Nature hates an underutilized niche. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-vulture/750844/4 "2016-04-01T18:46:53Z")
Think maybe it knows something you don’t? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-vulture/750844/5 "2016-04-01T18:55:57Z")
Clearly a messenger! ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-vulture/750844/6 "2016-04-01T20:39:05Z")
In the US, what appears to be a raptor in the sky is more than likely a turkey vulture, they are very numerous and conspicuous. They are easily distinguished at a great distance, as their soaring wings are on a dihedral, that is, forming a very shallow V, rather than being held out at 180 degrees like a true raptor. The other vulture species, Black Vultire, mostly in the south, has the same characteristic, but with white wing tips. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-vulture/750844/7 "2016-04-01T21:38:16Z")
Heck, turkey vultures love south Florida, some are year round in Miami and a LOT of them migrate there in the fall. Here’s a couple of articles. > **[Miami's vultures go to court](http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/miamis-vultures-go-to-court-6379240)** > > Miami's vultures go to court [http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-12-07/news/fl-downtown-vultures-20111206\_1\_black-and-turkey-vultures-bird-bangers-dirty-birds](http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-12-07/news/fl-downtown-vultures-20111206_1_black-and-turkey-vultures-bird-bangers-dirty-birds) ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-vulture/750844/8 "2016-04-01T23:59:47Z")
I see them as a sign of spring where I live. And unlike many bird species here, their numbers seem to be increasing. You can often see them in and around McGill university. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-vulture/750844/9 "2016-04-02T00:04:03Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > In the US, what appears to be a raptor in the sky is more than likely a turkey vulture, they are very numerous and conspicuous. They are easily distinguished at a great distance, as their soaring wings are on a dihedral, that is, forming a very shallow V, rather than being held out at 180 degrees like a true raptor. The other vulture species, Black Vultire, mostly in the south, has the same characteristic, but with white wing tips. One difference between a Black Vulture and a lawyer? The vulture doesn’t take off his wing tips at night. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-vulture/750844/10 "2016-04-02T00:15:26Z")
Why wouldn’t vultures like cities and suburbs? People = cars. Cars = roadkill. Roadkill = vulture smorgasbord. I’m always spotting dead possums, raccoons, cats, deer and armadillos in the road. Every one of them is a gift from man to the local vultures. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-vulture/750844/11 "2016-04-02T00:19:43Z")
I once saw some turkey vultures flying around in a circle like you do in a movie , when a neighbor asked me if I saw her cat I knew why the birds were there. It was an old cat that went off to die , I found the body right were the turkey vultures were flying . ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-vulture/750844/12 "2016-04-02T15:59:21Z")
March 15th is the traditional date when the turkey vultures return to Hinckley, Ohio. [It’s quite an event.](http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/03/buzzards_return_to_hinckley_re_1.html) The photo of the female vulture that has “imprinted” on humans is a bit eerie. I would not want to have one following me around the yard. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-vulture/750844/13 "2016-04-02T16:13:31Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The photo of the female vulture that has “imprinted” on humans is a bit eerie. I would not want to have one following me around the yard. Snoopy got some mileage out of that: [![](http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/peanuts/images/5/56/SnoopyVulture.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120619145711) ](http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/peanuts/images/5/56/SnoopyVulture.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120619145711) ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-vulture/750844/14 "2016-04-02T19:01:43Z")
They also keep the baby bumblebee population under control. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-vulture/750844/15 "2016-04-02T21:29:41Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Several are almost constantly in view out my window, along with Black Vultures. I miss the vultures on Ancon Hill more than many other things about living there in Panama. Always lots of birds and lots of behaviors.