sailingsue
Turkey Vultures
Latest in this years lawn ornaments!!!
I researched why vultures do this wing-spread behavoir and this is what I found;
Spread-wing postures appear to serve for both thermoregulation and drying in Turkey Vultures. These birds maintain their body temperature at a lower level at night than in the daytime. Morning wing-spreading provides a means of absorbing solar energy and passively raising their temperature to the daytime level. Field observations indicate that this behavior is associated with the intensity of sunlight and also occurs more frequently when the birds are wet than when they are dry.
The other reason they do this is because the Turkey vulture eats road kills and other dead animals. Their feet, beaks and feathers are often contaminated with bacteria from the often long-dead animals. Sunning themselves allows the sun’s ultraviolet rays to kill the bacteria.
Turkey Vultures
Latest in this years lawn ornaments!!!
I researched why vultures do this wing-spread behavoir and this is what I found;
Spread-wing postures appear to serve for both thermoregulation and drying in Turkey Vultures. These birds maintain their body temperature at a lower level at night than in the daytime. Morning wing-spreading provides a means of absorbing solar energy and passively raising their temperature to the daytime level. Field observations indicate that this behavior is associated with the intensity of sunlight and also occurs more frequently when the birds are wet than when they are dry.
The other reason they do this is because the Turkey vulture eats road kills and other dead animals. Their feet, beaks and feathers are often contaminated with bacteria from the often long-dead animals. Sunning themselves allows the sun’s ultraviolet rays to kill the bacteria.