Cloudy, calm, 46 degrees
It’s a cloudy and damp day. Although the temperature is far too warm for snow, the humidity and the dreary skies belie that fact. It’s the kind of day where a shot of vultures seems just the ticket…..dark subjects for a dark day. Rings Pond in Cornwall, NY has for whatever reason become a favorite roosting site of vultures these days. These roosts may attract 50 – 60 vultures at any one time. The dominant species on this day is the more gregarious Black vulture. The Black vultures are distinguished from their more common “cousins” the Turkey vultures by a black wrinkled face, shorter tails, and wing-tips which appear to have been dipped in a silvery wash.
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| Black vultures |
Why the vultures have chosen Rings Pond is a mystery to me. These birds feed on dead animal matter called “carrion” and most often are seen along roadsides and landfills where such material is generally quite available. Rings, however, is a municipal park with a pond much more attractive to the gulls, mallards, and escaped domestic ducks which are commonly observed here.
While locals may not be thrilled about the prospects of these neighbors moving in, the vultures are in fact quite sanitary. Their digestive juices are so strong that their excrement is considered to be disease-free. And while their appearance puts them in the ranks of the less charismatic characters of the natural world, their activity helps to dispose of dead and decaying animals and may in fact prevent the spread of certain diseases. And so we see that in nature, beauty is only skin deep.
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| Roosting Black vultures |
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