tree, or thicket. A friend of mine found a single turkey vulture egg in
mid-late May in the rocky shelter shown in the first photo, in Boylston,
MA. While there is often no nest construction, in this case there was a
bit of leaf litter under the single egg. We returned to the site in
mid-June, disappointed to find the crushed egg shell. It must have been
eaten before it hatched, since there were no droppings at the nest site.
I found the roost in the 3rd photo one morning while kayaking the
Ausable River in the Adirondacks of NY. Notice the bird at lower left,
with spread wings. It is said that they do this to dry the wings, warm
the body, and bake off bacteria.
This was an interesting post, Janet. I had no idea how they nested, and that's a great roost shot. The turkey vulture is usually overshadowed by the more Hollywood-handsome hawks, I think. And it tends to get a bad rap for its dining habits. It's good this site is non-discriminatory!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know much about turkey vultures either, but after getting these photos I learned that another reason people dislike them is that they often roost on cell phone towers, buildings, etc. It's nice to see that some of them are able to find suitable habitat elements that are not human made.
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