More About Turkey Vultures

Earlier this spring we saw five turkey vultures atop an abandoned barn while checking our bluebird boxes near Northfield (see March 24 blog post). A few weeks later we saw two turkey vultures on the edge of the hayloft of the same barn and wondered if they might be nesting there (see April 27 blog post). Last weekend in the same area we saw nine turkey vultures soaring overhead, quite close to each other, and soon afterwards we passed the barn again and found seven turkey vultures resting on the roof.

I did some more reading about turkey vultures, and learned that they roost in large community groups but tend to forage independently during the day. So my early guess that a group seen together in early spring suggested the previous year's family unit is not necessarily right at all.  But it's interesting to learn that they are communal birds.

The bird on the far right, above, is spreading its wings while resting. This is a common stance for the turkey vulture and is known as the "horaltic pose." The Turkey Vulture Society says:

The stance may serve multiple functions, including warming the body and drying the wings. Research on this pose suggests that turkey vultures spread their wings in the mornings, once the sun's intensity reaches a certain level, to raise their body temperature (which they lower at night by a few degrees as an energy saving mechanism). [see Turkey Vulture Facts page]

This photo was taken at about 4:20 p.m., for what that's worth.

 If you see turkey vultures circling in an area, it does not necessarily mean there is a dead animal nearby. The same site says, "Circling vultures may be gaining altitude for long flights, searching for food, or playing."

I like the idea of such large birds playing.

Nesting Turkey Vultures?

While doing our bluebird nestbox checks last Sunday, we saw two turkey vultures wheeling in the sky. Then they flew toward an abandoned barn and landed on what I think would be called the entrance to the hayloft (forgive me, I don't come from a farm background).

I did some quick research at the Turkey Vulture Society website and learned that turkey vultures do, in fact, commonly nest in abandoned barns. This setting is apparently an adequate equivalent for their traditional habit of nesting in caves, hollow logs, burrows and the like.

Pair of turkey vultures looking into barn

The thing is, we saw a group of five turkey vultures on the roof of this barn four weeks ago, our first "TV" sighting of the year. It was a very unusual sight to see a group like this.

Four of the five turkey vultures seen on same barn roof in March

So now I'm thinking that what we saw in March was quite possibly last year's family group, freshly returned from their wintering grounds, and maybe mom and pop are planning on raising a new brood in the same spot this year. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology says they may reuse a nesting site for many years.

The Turkey Vulture Society says TVs raise one brood a year, with one to three eggs but most commonly two. So a family group of five is certainly possible. They don't really build nests -- they just scratch out an indentation somewhere or arrange some vegetation. They incubate their eggs for close to 40 days, and fledging takes place 70-80 days after that. First-year vultures have gray, rather than red, heads. Now I wish the earlier photo was clearer so I could see if some of the heads weren't fully red yet.

Everything I've now read suggests it is very likely that this barn is a nesting spot for turkey vultures, and it's in a location we'll pass weekly as we do our bluebird rounds. I'm looking forward to what we might see of turkey vulture family life -- from a respectful distance -- in the weeks ahead.

I've just learned of a live turkey vulture cam installed in a barn in Missouri where vultures are apparently nesting. Read the article here, which contains a link to the live stream.