SOAKING THE SUN: This turkey vulture was photographed by Pat Clark, of Palermo, stretching its wings while soaking in the sunshine.

by Roland D. Hallee

I remember as a young boy growing up of going to the “movies” at the old State Theater, on Silver St., in Waterville (now Cancun Restaurant). It was the Saturday kids’ marathon. You would get to the theater at 10 a.m., and probably wouldn’t come out until dark. There were cartoons galore, news reels, several feature films, and even a commercial for popcorn in the lobby. (For 25-cents, you got admission to the theater, a bag of popcorn and soda – and get change back.)

One of the things I remember well, and are still my favorites today, were the old film noir westerns. The films were marked with poor lighting, corny sound effects and acting – but Gene and Roy could sing you a tune, and beat up the bad dudes. Pretty versatile guys to have around.

One scene would always be of a vulture circling overhead, signaling the presence of a corpse, or a carcass of a dead animal near a watering hole, an indication of a poisoned pool.

I had never seen a real vulture. I thought they only existed where the cowboys roamed the western range.

Later in life, around the 1980s, I saw my first real vulture on top of French’s Mountain, in the town of Rome. However, recently I have seen a growing population of the turkey vultures in central Maine. First, on the Nelson Rd., in Vassalboro, and recently on Chase Ave., in Waterville, near the Delta Ambulance headquarters. Last Sunday, I saw four of them in the road.

Its range is from southern Canada to the southermost tip of South America.

Turkey vulture

The turkey vulture, Cathartes aura, or turkey buzzard as it is known in some North American regions, is a scavanger that feeds almost exclusively on carrion. It finds its food using its keen eyes and sense of smell, flying low enough to detect the gasses produced by the beginnings of the process of decay in dead animals. This is an uncommon ability in the avian world. The olfactory lobe of its brain, responsible for processing smells, is particularly large compared to that of other animals. Lacking a syrinx, the vocal organ of birds, its only vocalizations are grunts or low hisses. It nests in caves, hollow trees, or thickets. It has very few natural predators. In the United States, the vulture receives legal protection under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.

It is listed as a species of Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list. Populations appear to be stable, thus has not reached the threshold of inclusion as a threatened species, which requires a decline of more than 30 percent in 10 years or three generations.

In the U.S. it is illegal to take, kill, or possess turkey vultures, their eggs, and any body parts including but not limited to their feathers; violation of the law is punishable by a fine of up to $100,000 for individuals or $200,000 for organizations, and/or a prison term of one year.

Turkey vultures appear black from a distance but up close are dark brown with a featherless red head and pale bill. While most of their body and forewing are dark, the undersides of the flight feathers (along the trailing edge and wingtips) are paler, giving a two-toned appearance.

The turkey vulture received its common name from the resemblance of the adult head of a wild turkey, while the name vulture is derived from the Latin word vulturus, meaning “tearer,” and is a reference to its feeding habits.

The wingspan of a turkey vulture is between 63 – 72 inches, has a length of 24 – 32 inches and weighs 1.8 to 5.3 pounds. Northern vulture are generally larger than the ones from its southern range. It is the most abundant vulture in the Americas. The global population of the turkey vulture is estimated to be 4.5 million individuals.

The turkey vulture is gregarious and roosts in large community groups, breaking away to forage independently during the day. It roosts on dead, leafless trees, and will also roost on man-made structures such as water and microwave towers. Though it nests in caves, it does not enter them except during the breeding season. The turkey vulture lowers its night time body temperature to about 93 degrees F, becoming slightly hypothermic.

Turkey vultures are perceived as a threat by farmers due to the similar black vulture’s tendency to attack and kill newborn cattle. Turkey vultures will not kill live animals, but will mix with other flocks of black vultures and will scavenge what they leave behind.

The breeding season varies according to region. In the north, it commences around May and continues into August. They do not lay eggs in a nest, but rather on a bare surface. Females generally lay two eggs, but sometimes one and rarely three. The incubation period lasts between 30 – 40 days. Chicks are helpless at birth. The young fledge at about nine to ten weeks, and family groups will remain together until fall.

Turkey vultures are majestic but unsteady soarers. Their teetering flight with very few wingbeats is characteristic. Look for them gliding relatively low to the ground, sniffing for carrion, or else riding thermals up to higher vantage points. They may soar in small groups and roost in larger numbers. You may also see them on the ground in small groups, huddled around roadkill or dumpsters.

Turkey vultures are common around open areas such as roadsides, suburbs, farm fields, countryside, and food sources such as landfills, trash heaps, and construction sites. On sunny days, look for them aloft as early as 9 a.m.; in colder weather and at night they roost on poles, towers, dead trees, and fence posts.

Thankfully though, they are pretty harmless. Turkey vultures really do only eat dead flesh, so your pets and children are technically safe. When they gather together in trees though, people will often bring their children inside. They also can give people an eerie feeling when they circle overhead.

They have no incentive to attack humans and they lack the physical attributes that could pose a threat. Some vultures will spew projectile vomit as a defense mechanism, which is about the extent of their hostile behavior.

Again, like many other species I have observed, more and more of these critters are beginning to show up in the urban surroundings, where in the past they were only seen in rural areas.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

Who is the only NFL quarterback in the Hall of Fame who is left handed?

Answer can be found here.

American robin

by Roland D. Hallee

I think I have some good news.

It all started last Saturday about the time I was ready for my second cup of coffee of the morning. The Keurig is located at the end of the kitchen counter near the window to the side porch. My wife has a couple of bird feeders hanging from the porch, and many species are seen coming in and out on a regular basis – chickadees, nuthatches, house finch, gold finch – you know the usual suspects.

Well, on that certain morning something caught my attention from the corner of my eye. There seemed to be a lot of activity coming from the driveway. My first thought: a squirrel was shaking things up.

A closer look showed maybe a dozen or two of birds active in and around a choke cherry bush that grows next to my garage. They were on the bush, on the ground, and even on my next door neighbor’s lawn.

At first glance, because the sun was in my eyes and all I saw were silhouettes, I thought they were European starlings, which I see all the time, especially in my back yard among the shrubs and black raspberry bushes that grow along the fence. It took a little while, but I finally discerned the birds were all American robins. Very unusual to see that many in the same place at the same time. I usually see a couple hanging around, but never that large a number of them.

What I have discovered is that American robins are social birds, especially during the winter, when they gather in large night roosts. During short winter days, smaller groups break off to forage for food, rejoining the roost in the evening.

This species has a wide-ranging diet. Robins feed on fruits and berries (especially in fall and winter), earthworms, snails, spiders, and insects such as grubs, caterpillars, and grasshoppers. Most people are familiar with the sight of American Robins hopping busily to and fro on lawns and in other open spaces, pulling up earthworms. Although they mainly glean food from the ground, robins also perch in trees while feeding on fruit and can catch flying insects in midair.

American robins, Turdus migratorius, are fairly large songbirds with a large, round body, long legs, and fairly long tail. Robins are the largest of the North American thrushes, and their profile offers a good chance to learn the basic shape of most thrushes. Robins make a good reference point for comparing the size and shape of other birds, too.

Since American Robins forage and feed on the ground, they are especially vulnerable to predation by outdoor cats. Collisions with windows, communications towers, and car strikes are other common hazards.

The American robin is a migratory songbird of the true thrush genus. It is named after the European robin because of its reddish-orange breast, though the two species are not closely related, with the European robin belonging to the Old World flycatcher family. The American robin is widely distributed throughout North America, wintering from southern Canada to central Mexico and along the Pacific Coast. It is the state bird of Connecticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

According to the Partners in Flight database (2019), the American robin is the most abundant bird in North America (370,000,000), ahead of Red-winged blackbirds, introduced European starlings, Mourning doves and the not-always-naturally-occurring House finch)

The adult robin’s main predators are hawks, domestic cats, and snakes. When feeding in flocks, it can be vigilant, watching other birds for reactions to predators.

Migratory populations spend the winter from extreme southern Canada south to central Mexico. Although originally a bird of forest clearings, this species adapted particularly well to the widespread settlement and clearing of forest and grassland that occurred over the last few centuries.

The American robin is considered a symbol of spring. A well-known example is a poem by Emily Dickinson titled I Dreaded That First Robin So. Among other 19th-century poems about the first robin of spring is The First Robin, by Dr. William H. Drummond, which, according to the author’s wife, is based on a Québec superstition that whoever sees the first robin of spring will have good luck. The association has continued down to the present day, as, for example, in one Calvin and Hobbes cartoon from 1990 that had Calvin celebrating his inevitable wealth and fame after seeing the first robin of spring. The spring folklore is borne out by the fact that American robins tend to follow the 37°F temperature north in spring, but also south in fall.

American popular songs featuring this bird include When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin’ Along), written by Harry M. Woods, and a hit for Al Jolson and others, and Rockin’ Robin, written by Roger Thomas and a hit for Bobby Day and others. Fly, Robin, Fly, by the German disco group Silver Convention, was a popular hit in the 1970s.

Although the comic book superhero Robin was inspired by an N. C. Wyeth illustration of Robin Hood, a later version had his mother nicknaming him Robin because he was born on the first day of spring. His red shirt suggests the bird’s red breast.

So, getting back to the good news.

It’s always been a folklore that robins migrate south for the winter, and their first re-appearance north in late winter indicates how much longer it will last and that spring is near. But does the robin migrate south for the winter? The answer: yes and no.

We associate robins with spring for good reason: In many places, they arrive with the warm weather. But that doesn’t mean all of these birds escape winter’s bite.

Unlike long-distance migrants and many hummingbirds, which head south en masse during the fall, robins react to winter’s onset in two ways.

Many retreat southward. Northern Canada empties of robins, while areas far to the south like Texas and Florida receive large winter flocks. But those making the journey are not lured by warmer temperatures. Robins can withstand extremely cold temperatures, adding warm, downy feathers to their plumage. The real motivation is food, or rather the lack of it. As their warm-weather diet of earthworms and insects wanes, robins begin searching for fresh supplies.

But declining invertebrate numbers aren’t a problem for all robins — and a good number stay up north, which is the second way robins react to winter. They have been observed in every U.S. state (except Hawaii) and all southern Canadian provinces in January. They’re able to remain thanks to several important adaptations.

First, they change their diet, transitioning from protein-rich invertebrates to vitamin-rich winter fruits and berries, including junipers, hollies, crabapples, and hawthorns.

They also begin moving. In the spring and summer, robins aggressively defend their territories and raise young. In the winter, they become nomadic, searching widely for their favorite cold-weather fare. Weather also influences robin movements. A heavy snowfall that persists for more than a few days may send them on their way, searching for better conditions.

Since I haven’t seen that flock since, I assume they have moved on. But, on the other hand, spring can’t be too far off.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

There are only two states in the United States that have yet to send a team to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. What are they?

Answer can be found here.