[TN-Bird] Re: Heron nesting colonies and vultures

  • From: James Brooks <comeback@xxxxxxxx>
  • To: raincrow@xxxxxxx
  • Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 04:56:46 -0800 (GMT-08:00)

Black Vultures are probably tearing out and testing for taste anything that 
looks like intestines that they would jerk out of a dead body cavity. They are 
quite sociable when raised in captivity. I don't know if the hand-reared pair 
that came back to roost every night at the Bay's Mountain nature center are 
still around, but they startled folks as they swooped over the parking lot at 
night. 
Even though you're not supposed to make pets of wild animals, Black Vultures 
would rate high on my list of prospects. They don't get cranky as adults like 
raccoons. 
Their presence near heron rookeries probably has more to do with the number of 
heron loses from young dying after falling prematurely from the nest. The 
ground under a rookery is usually litered with such dead, and the vultures are 
there to clean them up. 
So long as possums continue to cross roads, we should be thankful for having 
vultures to clean them up, and that goes in spades for skunk breeding season. 

James Brooks

-----Original Message-----
>From: Don Miller <raincrow@xxxxxxx>
>Sent: Feb 21, 2006 7:39 PM
>To: 
>Cc: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: [TN-Bird] Re: Heron nesting colonies and vultures
>
>Wes,
>
>Your description of vultures (perhaps Black) tearing windshield wipers 
>and sun roof gaskets reminds me of something my wife and I learned from 
>a wildlife rehabber in Blacksburg, VA two decades ago. 
>
>At one point, the rehabber had in her care a male Black Vulture that had 
>been found at a picnic area somewhere and brought in for care.  At the 
>time of its capture, the vulture (later named Balthasar) was still in 
>its downy phase and had appeared at the picnic area as a "weird chicken" 
>walking around trying to untie people's shoelaces.  Of course, the bird 
>became thoroughly imprinted on humans, and so some kind of life in 
>captivity was the only choice.  Even after becoming an adult, it 
>exhibited a curiosity for things it could pull with its bill, and it 
>remained quite docile toward humans and interested in human-made objects.
>
>Perhaps there is something about pullable or tearable human objects that 
>attracts Black Vultures.  I would be interested to know if similar 
>behavior has been observed in connection with non-human 
>material--sticks, vines, twigs, or whatever.  These birds are intriguing 
>and bear much watching.  My impression is that they tend to be more 
>sociable toward their own species than are Turkey Vultures, but I have 
>no firm evidence for suggesting this, only my hunch based on lots of 
>observation.  (Of course, both species of vulture are observable by 
>humans only in a narrow range of circumstances.  Like all living things, 
>they live most of their lives in a privacy that we are seldom privileged 
>to venture into.  And when we do, who's to say that we interpret things 
>accurately?)
>
>Don Miller
>Greeneville, Greene Co., TN   
>
>James, Wesley K. wrote:
>
>>In reference to recent TN-Bird posts by Wallace and Charlie Muise
>>regarding heron nesting colonies, I would like to encourage all
>>observers of these sites to look for and note the presence of vultures
>>in the vicinity of the colonies.  In recent years I have noted the
>>presence of vultures (mostly black-possibly non-breeding sub-adults?) at
>>several established heron nesting colonies in the Fort
>>Loudoun-Tellico-Melton Hill-Watts Bar Reservoir areas.  While I have not
>>observed any predation (eggs or fledglings) by vultures to date, at
>>least one heron nesting colony in the Fort Loudoun-Tellico area where
>>numerous vultures were present throughout the nesting season went from
>>approximately 30 active nests to 0 over about a three year period.  I
>>know that heron colonies do disperse and move around over time, however
>>I suspect in this case that the presence and numbers of vultures may
>>have influenced the success of this nesting colony.
>>I am going to be more closely monitoring heron nesting colonies on local
>>reservoir areas this year and I will post any observations of vultures
>>or other factors that may be influencing nesting success.  I encourage
>>all observers to do the same to help us determine if there might be some
>>relationship between heron nesting colonies and vulture
>>roosting/concentration areas.
>> 
>>As a sidenote, we have had several vulture "incidents" reported to us
>>over the last couple of years which include the tearing off  (and
>>possibly eating) of windshield wipers and sun roof gaskets on vehicles
>>parked at fishing and boating access sites near Fort Loudoun Dam and the
>>"consumption" of jetski seats on Watts Bar Reservoir.  It appears that
>>black vultures are the primary culprit in these cases.
>> 
>>Wes James
>>Lenoir City, TN
>>Wesley K. (Wes) James, Wildlife Biologist
>>Tennessee Valley Authority, Resource Stewardship
>>Little Tennessee Watershed Team
>>260 Interchange Park Drive
>>Lenoir City, TN  37772-5664
>>865-632-1312  Fax: 865-632-1313
>>wkjames@xxxxxxx
>> 
>> 
>>=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================
>>
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>>       Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
>>        endorse the views or opinions expressed
>>        by the members of this discussion group.
>> 
>>         Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
>>                 wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>>_____________________________________________________________
>>     Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
>>          web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
>>* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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>>_____________________________________________________________
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>>
>>
>>  
>>
>
>=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================
>
>The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with
>first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation.
>You are also required to list the count in which the birds
>you report were seen.  The actual date of observation should
>appear in the first paragraph.
>_____________________________________________________________
>To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
>tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>_____________________________________________________________ 
>To unsubscribe, send email to:
>tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
>with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
>______________________________________________________________
>  TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society 
>       Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
>        endorse the views or opinions expressed
>        by the members of this discussion group.
> 
>         Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
>                 wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>_____________________________________________________________
>     Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
>          web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
>* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
>
>_____________________________________________________________
>
>

=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================

The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with
first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation.
You are also required to list the count in which the birds
you report were seen.  The actual date of observation should
appear in the first paragraph.
_____________________________________________________________
To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
_____________________________________________________________ 
To unsubscribe, send email to:
tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
______________________________________________________________
  TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society 
       Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
        endorse the views or opinions expressed
        by the members of this discussion group.
 
         Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
                 wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_____________________________________________________________
     Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
          web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp

_____________________________________________________________


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