HEARTWOOD CHAPTER

I photographed the vultures in the Sam Houston National Forest (Texas) and captured unusual pictures of this beautiful, but misunderstood bird.

Vultures can eat a rotten, diseased carcass and not not get sick. The birds droppings are also disease free. These birds play an important role in nature by cleaning disease out of the environment. This helps protect other animals and people from getting sick. Scientists think the reasons behind this digestive cleansing process could be important to medical science.

Adult Turkey Vultures have red heads and Black Vultures have black heads. Black vultures have shorter tails and hold their wings straight while flying, while Turkey Vulture's wings are held in a shallow "v". Both species do not have feathers on their heads to keep from fouling (disease).

Vultures often stand in a spread-winged stance, which may serve multiple functions: drying the wings, warming the body, and baking off bacteria. Don't look for a vulture nest. They don't build nests. Eggs are laid on the ground hiding under cover, in rock crevices, or in a hollow tree.

Vultures have no syrinx (voice box) and are silent except for hissing and grunting. They hiss when they feel threatened. Grunts are heard from hungry young and adults in courtship.

A group of vultures is called a "Venue." Vultures circling on thermals of hot air are referred to as a "Kettle", because they resemble rising bubbles in a boiling pot of water.

Vulture poop is actually a sanitizer! Their stomachs contain digestive acids that kill virtually all bacteria and viruses. Like their stork relatives, American vultures often defecate on their legs, using the evaporation of the water in the feces to cool down. If you visit a roosting area, beware, vultures swiftly vomit in the direction of any disturbance, to scare it away!

Go To my web site for additional information: http://web.me.com/ken_kramm/MobileMe/Welcome.html Want to join a Vulture Society? Go go: http://vulturesociety.homestead.com/

Public Domain Music is "Pulse" by Kevin MacLeod.