BIRDS OF NANTUCKET
THE OTHER VULTURE
by Kenneth Turner Blackshaw
Vultures have only recently become part of Nantucket's scene. No, this isn't a new type of real estate speculator, circling the island waiting for old homeowners to pass on. This IS a bird column and we're speaking about vultures with feathers. Whether it is global warming, or just an increase in the number of deer carcasses to feed on, vultures are now visible in the sky virtually every day over our island. When Griscom and Folger wrote "Birds of Nantucket" back in the late '40s, there was just a single vulture record from 1930.

Black Vulture

(I originally wrote about Turkey Vultures back in November of 2003 in an article titled "The Hinckley Connection." You can find of that article at http://k-blackshaw.com/BON.htm or perhaps buy a copy of "A Year of Birding Nantucket, Volume One.")

This week we are speaking of the Black Vulture, Coragyps atratus, sometimes known as the 'carrion crow.' Coragyps translates to 'raven vulture' and atratus, 'black funeral attire.' The German naturalist, Johann Matthäus Bechstein, named this species back in 1791, perhaps thinking of Homer's 'griffon vulture' when he did so.

People sometimes refer to vultures as 'buzzards.' In Europe, hawks like our Red-tailed Hawk are called by that name. This is probably how Buzzards Bay was named, not because of vultures, but because the early settlers referred to the Ospreys they saw as buzzards.

Looking at the avian family tree, Old World vultures are more closely related to hawks and eagles, whereas New World vultures are closer to storks. New World vultures include the huge Andean Condor with a wingspan of over 10 feet.

If you see a vulture circling over the Madaket Road, it's most likely a Turkey Vulture. How would you recognize a Black Vulture? Right off the bat they look different in the air. Turkey Vultures are marvelous soarers, seldom having to flap their wings. Typically they hold their wings in a vee shape. We think 'V' for vulture.

Black Vultures are more hawk-like. When circling, their wings are held nearly flat, with just the tips curling upwards. Their tails are also shorter and more rounded. Your first thought on seeing one might be a small-headed Red-tailed Hawk. That small-headed appearance is because they have no feathers on their heads and upper necks, another vulture feature.

If you are lucky enough to have good light you may notice the color in the wings. Turkey Vulture flight feathers are very shiny, making the wings appear bordered with silver. Black Vulture wings are black except for the primary feathers at the end of the wing that are silvery white.

The normal Black Vulture range is south of here. John V. Dennis, the author of "A Complete Guide to Bird Feeding", found our first one in July of 1981. The late Mr. Dennis resided on Liberty Street for many years and I remember him as an English teacher in our high school in the late 1950s. At any rate, enough Black Vultures have now been seen that they are no longer considered 'accidental.' We look for them about now, and then in mid-summer, and early autumn.

The birds that get here at this season are called 'overshoots.' They are heading to their normal nesting grounds, perhaps in Virginia, but get caught up by high winds and suddenly find themselves well beyond their targets. The ones coming later are post-breeding wanderers that just seem to travel around because they can. Vultures often soar to extremely high altitudes. A Ruepell's Vulture collided with an airliner at 37,000 feet over southern France. Why a bird would fly that high is anyone's guess but the view must be fantastic.

Black Vultures build no nests but simply lay their eggs on the ground or perhaps in a vertical cavity in a dead tree. Usually only two eggs are laid and the process of hatching them and then raising the chicks to self-sufficiency takes over four months. Both parents participate.

As you probably know vulture diet is pretty unappetizing. They eat dead stuff - carrion. In feeding their young, they regurgitate a rather horrible mixture into the chicks gullets. You can imagine what a vulture nesting site looks and smells like after raising two chicks through the summer. Still in many less advanced societies, vultures are revered for performing a vital function of cleaning up carcasses that might otherwise cause disease.

Here on Nantucket it is a test for birders to compare the various birds that soar our summer skies. We have gulls, Ospreys and other hawks, and now the vultures have been added. It's an interesting test to try and tell one from another by the way they hold their wings or respond to Nantucket's quirky winds. We don't see a Black Vulture every year, but learning what the more common soarers look like will prepare you

when you are lucky enough to find one. I

George C. West creates illustrations for these articles. If you enjoy 'social' birding, join the Nantucket Bird Club at 8 a.m. Sundays in front of Nantucket High School for a two to three hour birding trip. Call 228-1693 for more information. To hear about rare birds, or to leave a bird report call the Massachusetts Audubon hot line at 1-781-259-8805. Ask Ken a question at: kenandcindy1@comcast.net.