Note: in this post, when I use the term “vulture,” I am mainly referring to the Turkey Vulture species. Although I find vultures of other lands fascinating, I don’t know enough about them to write an informative post.
Whenever Turkey Vultures come up, people will invariably let you know that they think they’re ugly. People pick on vultures the way vultures pick bones clean–thoroughly and completely. Vultures have acquired a reputation for being ugly and creepy, and are generally considered “nuisance birds.”
Perhaps it’s due to the fact that their heads are red and featherless. Maybe it’s because their preferred cuisine is rotting meat. Or it could be because their mute presence always seems to accompany death; they linger on the outskirts, silently placing their bets on who will be the next to expire.
But what if I told you that vultures are super shy and timid? What if I told you that their creepy horror-movie silence is simply due to the fact that nature neglected to give them a voice box? And their naked heads- that’s only to keep all the ick from collecting.
And with their “disgusting” habit of scouring the roadsides for the unfortunates, not only are vultures keeping us from having to see (and smell) rotting corpses all the time, but they’re actually protecting us. Because when nature was shaping the birds, it decided that a vulture’s weapons wouldn’t be strong, sharp talons or a flesh-tearing beak. Instead, it gave them super strong stomach acids (it’s all luck of the draw, I guess). Strong enough to destroy diseases such as cholera, botulism, and rabies. A flock of vultures can literally stop a disease outbreak before it even begins. And how do we thank them? By wishing they weren’t so ugly.
After I started birding, and learning about a vulture’s place and purpose, I started to develop a deep affection for them. I realized that vultures are simply misunderstood. And maybe I have a thing for the underdog, but it kind of breaks my heart that these shy, sweet little creatures are constantly bullied and put down by those who benefit from them so much. Solely on account of how they look. And I know that it can’t be because of what they eat- because Bald Eagles are frequenters of carrion too, and what did we do but go and make them the symbol of our country.
So perhaps we can start to broaden the boundaries of the body positivity movement to encompass a species other than our own. For is it simply feathers that make a bird lovely? Maybe we can tap into the mindset that provided Turkey Vultures their name, Cathartes aura, “purifying breeze.” Let’s go back to appreciating vultures for what they are: nature’s garbage disposal cleansers of the earth.
And just for the record, I would like to let you all know that vultures rarely eat meat more than four days old.
TLDR: Vultures are friends. Stop calling them ugly.
All of the pictures in this post are from early May when I was getting photos of some vultures in the road and Mom took it upon herself to invite them into our yard. She scooped up the carrion (the leftovers of what was once a rabbit) with a shovel and placed it in our soon-to-be meadow. Morbid, I know. But what can I say? We are dedicated to our craft. The vultures quickly followed and I managed to get all these pictures, including the Black Vulture, which was a lifer for me!
