Amazing or Annoying

When you mention turkey vulture to wildlife expert Pat Schlarbaum, words like “remarkable” and “amazing” are used to describe the bird.

Mention turkey vulture to Wade Bullington, whose backyard can be filled with as many as 40 of the large birds and you will heard the word annoyance.

As much of a harbinger of spring as April showers and May flowers, turkey vultures arrive in the Midwest with warming temperatures and will soon be flying south as the mercury drops.

In the meantime, the birds will scavenge through the day, hang out on the water tower until dusk before making their way to someone’s backyard.

Regardless though of their public approval rating, the bird plays an important role in the ecological system.

Nature’s Janitor

Found in every state in the continental United States, the turkey vulture (also known as turkey buzzards) is the most populous scavenger in North America.

“Their role is to be nature’s janitor,” Schlarbaum, a Department of Natural Resources technician said. “People attach a lot of negative baggage to the turkey vulture, but without them, there would be a lot more rotting animals out there to deal with.”

With a 6-foot wingspan, the turkey buzzard is equipped with several tools to help find and acquire food, starting with the top of their head.

Unlike other birds, turkey vultures have no colorful feathers atop their red heads, which is similarly shaped to their popular namesake found on many Thanksgiving tables. That lack of feathers is important.

“When you think about where turkey buzzards get their food and where their heads are most of the time, it makes sense to not have feathers there,” Schlarbaum said.

When roosting, turkey vultures frequently spread their wings in order to “air out” the feathers they do have, which help destroys any bacteria that may have accumulated throughout the day.

Schlarbaum said turkey vultures’ olfactory senses also set them apart from other birds.

“Most raptors and birds can’t smell, but turkey buzzards have olfactory abilities,” he said. “It’s the hydrogen sulfide of decaying flesh they smell. That’s what draws them.”

Classified as a raptor since they eat meat, turkey vultures typically nest in May and June, producing a couple offspring each year. When threatened, Schlarbaum said turkey vultures have a defense as unique as it is offensive.

“When they are disturbed, their response is to upchuck and it’s practically caustic,” he said. “It’s pretty foul … it even wards off raccoons, which is saying something.”

While raccoons and other animals will steal turkey vulture eggs, the bird has no natural predators. As a migratory bird, it is protected by federal legislation from hunting.

The lack of a hunting season and natural predators has led to an increase in the bird’s numbers. Schlarbaum also attributes the bird’s longevity to its intelligence.

“I’ve been working with the DNR for 30 years and over that time, I’ve driven a lot of roads,” he said. “I’ve only come across a dead turkey buzzard on the road twice. That’s pretty remarkable.”

The Nuisance Buzzard

As a very social bird, turkey vultures roost together at night and in Red Oak, while they start on the water tower, by the time night falls, they are usually in someone’s backyard.

There, the large, vomiting bird is anything but welcome.

Red Oak City Administrator Brad Wright said every year the city fields complaints about the birds. However, any eradication or population control programs would have to be coordinated by the United States Department of Agriculture, which has oversight over the federally-protected species.

After obtaining a permit, the City would have to use a USDA-authorized contractor to exterminate the birds. He said the likelihood of that happening is slim.

“It would be a long process to get a permit through the USDA and it wasn’t something we felt like was a big enough concern,” he said. “I’ll never say never, though. If the problem persists or get worse, we may look into it more.”

Wade Bullington, who has lived at 705 Highland with his wife Nancy for about 15 years, is one of those who has complained about the birds which first started roosting in his backyard a few years ago. He said he’s seen as many as 35-40 in the yard at one time.

“They are a large bird and their feces is a real problem,” he said. “There have been times we can’t enjoy our patio.”

When they arrive, Bullington will try scaring them away by smacking boards together.

“We have done that and they have left and stayed away and there are other times they’re back in 20 minutes,” he said.

Others in the area have fired bottle rockets into the air to scare the birds away, but that violates not only a city ordinance regarding fireworks but also federal legislation.

Schlarbaum said professional animal control contractors typically will hang a plastic turkey buzzard carcass from a tree to scare off the real thing.

“Buzzards don’t like to see that so they will typically roost somewhere else,” he said.

A Famous Cousin

Schlarbaum said it’s not a coincidence once the turkey vulture heads out of Iowa, it’s replaced by another scavenger.

While this bird will also serve as janitor, eating dead animals while the vulture is out of town, it carries a very different reputation.

“The bald eagle is a lot more similar to the turkey buzzard than people like to admit,” Schlarbaum said. “One is our national symbol while the other, well, it’s a turkey buzzard.”

In addition to their respective diets, the birds are similar in size and flight patterns.

“A lot of times, people will see the dark figure circling in the air and mistake a turkey buzzard for an eagle,” Schlarbaum said.

Schlarbaum said it’s easy though to distinguish the two as the turkey vulture flies in a downward V-type pattern while eagles circle.

However, they serve similar roles in cleaning up the countryside.

“There’s a lot of negative feelings about turkey buzzards,” Schlarbaum said. “It really is unfortunate because they are a remarkable bird.”

Bullington said that’s an easy perspective to have if the birds aren’t in your backyard.

“You see them in the country, they’re graceful looking,” he said. “But if they are filling up your backyard with droppings, you think differently.”