Ohio Outdoors: “T” is for turkey

It’s November, the month of Thanksgiving. Here, in America, no other animal is more closely associated with November than the turkey. According to the US Poultry and Egg Association 46 million turkeys will give their lives to the holiday this year.

When we think of turkeys, most of us picture large, white, domestic, birds too heavy to fly. Or we may think of wild turkeys, slightly smaller, with dark, iridescent feathers, and strong wings to carry them into the treetops. No matter which image pops into your mind, both have featherless colorful heads.

Turkey vultures are so named because they are also, large, dark birds with bald, bright red heads. That’s about where the similarities end except for the month of November.

While wild turkeys remain residents of Portage County throughout the year, it is typically late November or early December that turkey vultures migrate to Central and South America for the winter. This is quite an amazing feat since they are not known for their strong flying ability. The average wingspan of a turkey vulture is six feet, but they typically use their long wings to soar on thermals. These rising masses of buoyant air allow them to spread their wings and play on the currents for up to six hours between wing flaps. Vultures are social birds. Once one finds a good thermal, others will soon join in creating what is known as a kettle or a large group of vultures ‘circling’ in the air. The rising air currents boost the birds higher, allowing them to see further in search of their next meal.

When winter comes, the leaves are off the trees, and the ground is covered in snow. Thermals are less abundant, making it harder for turkey vultures to find food. Even if they found it, it would likely be frozen making it inedible. So, before winter settles in, turkey vultures head south where thermals and food are plentiful.

I was once blessed enough to witness a turkey vulture migration. It was about 20 years ago. I was in the woods with a group of outdoor educators, and someone just happened to look up. We all stood there, mouths agape, witnessing something truly special. For about ten minutes we stood utterly transfixed as a never-ending stream of thousands of turkey vultures glided silently over us. Some of them flew so high they were mere dots. Others flew low enough that we could see their red heads and necks. I could have stood there for hours watching them, unfortunately, the group I was with was on a schedule and we had to leave. Every year since then I begin watching the skies as Thanksgiving rolls around, hoping to witness this spectacular event. But every year I miss it and I simply wake up one morning to find that all the turkey vultures are gone until spring.

So, I encourage you to look to the skies this month and see if you are able to observe turkey vultures riding the currents or even winging their way south. Once they are gone, the skies will be lonely until spring when thermals beckon turkey vultures to soar to spectacular heights over Portage County once again.