Baby Vultures

[Boysmom]

Yesterday my son Max and his dog found 2 baby vultures on a walk in the woods. They were on the ground and the dog actually picked one up. Max bundled them up in his shirt and brought them to the house. One still had egg shell stuck to its bottom. I called my friend who does raptor rehab, but he couldnt pick them up until today. We hand fed them last night and this morning, and kept them warm in a brooder. They are now gone to the rehab, and we surely miss them. They are so cute, so I had to share pictures with you all.

 

[aliray]

How cute and thanks for rescuing them

 

[Featheredsamurai]

How cute! Were did they find them? Vultures often nest on rocky edges and cliffs.

 

[Boysmom]

They found these in an old tree stump. In our area Vultures will nest anywhere. We knew the dog would never leave them alone once she had found them. They hand fed quite well. We all learned alot about raptors from my friend when he came to pick them up.

 

[Kiwibird]

What a pair of little cuties! Kudos to your son for actually rescuing them so some animal didn't get to them. I'm glad you were able to find someone who could raise them properly, and hopefully someday they can join their wild relatives! If your good friends with the guy who took them, I'd be interested in seeing pics of the little guys growing up. Vultures are kind of reclusive birds, you don't get many opportunities to see them grow up from chicks.

 

[faeryphoebe1]

They're so cute! Thanks for sharing the pics.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

They found these in an old tree stump. In our area Vultures will nest anywhere. We knew the dog would never leave them alone once she had found them. They hand fed quite well. We all learned alot about raptors from my friend when he came to pick them up.

Yeah, a stump isn't the best place to nest. Silly black(?) vultures. We only have turkey vultures here, I think they are such beautiful bids.

 

[MarciaLove]

oh they are so cute!!! Glad you rescue them

 

[momto3]

What a wonderful experience for your son! You must be very proud of him.

 

[Kiwibird]

Cute and Beautiful are words I have never heard associated with vultures. There's a first time for everything! I hate to even think what you loaded in those syringes to hand feed them <shudder>

My moms green cheek amazon went bald from the neck up, save a little red patch on the front of his head, about 30 years ago (some kind of weird genetic problem). He looks like a little green turkey vulture, and is about the cutest thing you've ever seen. I guess once you've associated one bald bird with being adorable, it's not hard to see it in others We also had a big dead tree numerous turkey vultures would congregate in in our back yard when I was growing up. I used to give them all "V" names, and they really are beautiful and fascinating birds, if you can get over their dietary preferences.

 

[Boysmom]

Kiwibird- I will definately post more pictures as they grow. We will be visiting them once weekly to watch their progression.

grey782163- I handfed them dog chow and monkey chow made into a paste with warm water, as advised by my friend, since I didnt have any roadkill at home ( LOL ). He feeds them meat mash, that he gets from the game warden from confiscated illegal kills.

I thought everyone here would enjoy seeing how cute they start out. I wish I had been able to record the weird sound the made.
Some interesting facts we learned about them:
1) They see in color
2) Only turkey vultures have a keen sense of smell that reaches for a mile. Other raptors do not have the ability to smell.
3) they regurgitate when scared or confronted . They can gorge themselves on a carcass to the point they are too heavy to fly, thus they must regurgitate to fly away.
4) they can fly for hours at a time
5) They are related to the stork
6) They urinate straight down on their legs, as the uric acid kills the bacteria that they get from the carcasses they devour.

I believe we all take for granted the Vulture, without this disgusting bird, we would all have to see and smell roadkill that would only spread disease and bacteria. They serve their purpose well. Just think of them as a free garbage service.

 

[noblemacaw]

I have always been fastinated with Vultures. They are a really unique and necessary animal that we NEED in the ecosystem.

I did not know they urinate down the legs. Interesting. As I picture a parrot with the same ability I also picture a very wet urinated on hand/arm. LOL

 

[aliray]

I live in Fla and I love watching vultures soaring on the wind currents. We have both the black headed vultures and the turkey vultures. Natures cleanup crew, will work for roadkill.

 

[aliray]

I live in a deed restricted community and I have a feeling that would not make for a happy community.

 

[Kiwibird]

There was an old lady the next county over that used to pick up road kill whenever she came across it to put in her "bird feeder" (an old bath tub). After many years, the neighbors forced her to stop

That's too funny! I've heard of bird feeders, bur never a "vulture feeder" lol. I really can't blame the neighbors in that case, I bet her yard reeked in unspeakable ways lol. A few years back we were driving down a very rural road, and came upon a group of vultures eating something dead and nasty that had been hit. I thought they would all fly off, but I actually had to stop because they weren't leaving their "treasure" behind. We sat stopped in the middle of the road observing them up close for a few minutes, and I had never really realized how huge they were before. We eventually had to just drive around them since they were obviously not going to move for the car and i didn't want to be mean and intentionally spook them. Vultures are very interesting birds indeed....

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Only new world vultures are related to storks, the old world vultures are true raptors.

 

[Labbie]

awwwww so cute

Thanks for sharing pics.