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- Permanent Link:
- http://dpanther.fiu.edu/dpService/dpPurlService/purl/FI14090849/00001
Notes
- Scope and Content:
- Source: Vultures 1
Length of Segment: 00:01:19
Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. The head of an adult turkey vulture is red and bare of feathers and its bill is whitish at the tip. These characteristics help us identify it. For their first few months, however, young turkey vultures lack the red color on the head and have a black bill. These differences in the young birds are important badges of rank, identifying them as clumsy kids prone to mistakes and not responsible for social blunders. Young turkey vultures are sometimes mistaken by birders for black vultures, but can always be identified by their long tail, browner plumage, and the way they hold their wings in a 'V' as they fly. At first, young turkey vultures follow their parents in search of food, learning the ropes of food finding. Within a few weeks, they're on their own. Turkey vultures tend to hunt solitarily and typically, only one will be at a carcass at a time, unlike the more social black vulture. In late afternoon, however, turkey vultures gather at communal roosts for the night. It's at these roosts where a great deal of social interaction takes place and where the juvenile's different appearance earns it forgiveness for breaches of vulture etiquette. ( English )
- Scope and Content:
- Source: Vultures 2
Length of Segment: 00:01:30
Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. Turkey vultures are late risers as birds go. Not because they sleep more, but because they wait for winds or thermals that allow efficient soaring. Flapping-flight is energetically expensive and turkey vultures have mastered the art of taking advantage of a free lift. As the ground heats up in the morning, the hot air rises, and a turkey vulture has only to lift its wings to sail off in search of food. Wind can allow an early departure, however, especially if the turkey vultures roost on a cliff or building such as they do on the Dade County Courthouse. Morning sea breezes strike the courthouse and are deflected upward, providing the vultures with an elevator to breakfast. Roosting turkey vultures can often be seen perched with outstretched wings. At times, they're testing the air currents and readying themselves for a lift-off. At other times, they may be hanging their wings out to dry. Dew collected on their feathers overnight reduces a vultures’ soaring efficiency, and getting them dry first is important. A turkey vulture may also hold its wings open and exposed to the sun to regulate its body temperature and perhaps to combat feather parasites. Such nuances of vulture behavior celebrate the complexity of interactions between these birds and their environment. ( English )
Record Information
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- Added automatically
- Holding Location:
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- Rights Management:
- Please contact the owning institution for licensing and permissions. It is the users responsibility to ensure use does not violate any third party rights.
- Resource Identifier:
- FI00900182
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