Remember the big bird in the photo from my last post, “Spectacular Views From Beacon Mountain” I needed help identifying? According to commenter John:
Nice clear skies to be able to see the skyscrapers 50 miles away! That’s a turkey vulture in the one photo. They look so graceful from a distance, soaring over the mountains, but from closer up — yikes! — the naked red head is pretty ugly.
I agree, they sure do look graceful. Thanks for helping us identify it. I believe that in nature, even “ugly” creatures can still be beautiful in their own way. Check out John’s site, Life With John, for some great nature and travel photos.
Here are some more pictures of the turkey vultures from a few days ago. There were several of these birds flying around as I was in the fire tower.
I wish I could be a turkey vulture for a day. Or a week. Or a year! That way I could soar through the skies like I’ve always dreamed of. I’ve had other hikers tell me about turkey vultures before, usually as a warning to not climb a fire tower if they build their nest in one, since they may attack to defend it. Otherwise, they are harmless.
The turkey vultures of the Americas are also a good example of convergent evolution. They are not in the same avian group as Old World vultures, which belong to accipitridae, while New World vultures are in cathartidae. In spite of this, evolutionary forces have made them very similar.
If you could be any animal for a day, which animal would you choose to be?
AcroTrekker 