Turkey vulture / Missouri Department of Conservation
Humans may not think much of a vulture’s appearance or its diet, but we owe a debt of gratitude to this common Ozarks bird.
Unless, that is, you’re someone who’s hoping for an increase in rabies. Or you want more cases of tularemia. Anyone for more canine distemper?
These are some of the wildlife diseases that are helped kept in check by the feeding habits of vultures. Vultures occasionally eat live prey, but the majority of their diet is carrion — “dead stuff.” It’s that food choice that causes many people to have a less-than-stellar opinion of these birds. While this may not seem like a glamorous diet, it’s a valuable one.
To understand how this benefits us, think about how these animals became food for vultures. Some may have died from vehicle accidents or other human-related causes, but a number of the carcasses that vultures feed upon are victims of disease.
Generations of feeding on dead animals has developed a digestive system in the vulture that is highly acidic and able to take care of bacteria and other harmful organisms that are consumed along with the decaying flesh.
Contrast this with coyotes, rats and a number of other scavenging animals that have less-potent digestive systems. As a result, they often end up as carriers of bacteria they ingest. These scavenging animals and their less-efficient “cleanup” methods of dead creatures can end up spreading the same diseases that took down their source of food.
One example is in India, where biologists think there’s a direct correlation between a decline in vultures in some parts of the country and an increased prevalence of rabies in those same areas.
Vultures found in North America are in a different bird family than “Old World” vultures. Western Hemisphere vultures are closely related to storks whereas as Old World vultures have closer ties to eagles. That the two groups of birds are somewhat similar in appearance is a classic example of convergent evolution, which occurs when animals with similar habitat needs evolve into similar-looking creatures.
The type of vulture that is most common in the Ozarks is the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura), although the black vulture (Coragyps atratus) also is seen in this region. The turkey vulture is so named because its featherless, reddish head and its dark body somewhat resembles a turkey.
You can learn more about vultures at the Missouri Department of Conservation’s “Vulture Venture” event from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery near Branson. The hatchery is located just east of Table Rock Dam.
The Lake Taneycomo corridor (which was formerly the corridor of the White River) is an annual wintering place for vultures. Usually, anywhere from several hundred to more than 1,000 vultures will congregate along the lake in winter, which makes this location ideal for the event.
The program will consist of outdoor viewing opportunities of vultures in the wild and indoor viewing of a captive vulture furnished by the Wonders of Wildlife Museum in Springfield. For information, call the hatchery at 417-334-4865, or the Department of Conservation’s Southwest Regional Office in Springfield at 417-895-6880. Information about vultures and other birds can also be found at missouriconservation.org.
Francis Skalicky is media specialist for the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Southwest Region. For more information about conservation issues, call 417-895-6880.