It’s nearly Thanksgiving so it seems appropriate to have a turkey themed field note Friday! Our feature today will highlight both the Turkey Vulture and the Wild Turkey. The Turkey Vulture is a common site spring through fall then they migrate south for the winter. The Wild Turkey is the largest game bird in North America and does not migrate. Both are different species of birds but are both common sites in North America and have similar looking heads which is how the Turkey Vulture obtained its name. Turkey vultures soar in the sky looking for carrion while Wild Turkeys forage on the ground for seeds, nuts and insects. It is understandable why the Wild Turkey makes a much better meal (plump figure, easy to catch, eats a mostly vegetarian diet) than the carrion eating-high flying Turkey Vulture also known as a “buzzard” although it is in a different taxonomic family than European vultures. Besides, “Join us for fresh baked turkey, stuffing and gravy” sounds a lot better than “Join us for deep-fried buzzard and all the fixins”! For more information and pictures, follow these links to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology All About Birds Website and be thankful this Thanksgiving that your turkey (or crab or salmon) dinner isn’t Buzzard! allaboutbirds.org/guide/Turkey_Vulture/id allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wild_Turkey/lifehistory
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 03:00:01 +0000
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