A few days back when walking with a neighbor, we saw that there was a large gathering of black birds along the sidewalk–about 20-25 I’d say. At first I thought the birds were cormorants as some were holding out their wings like cormorants do to dry their wings. But as we got closer, we could see that they were black buzzards, which are very, very common here, and I knew there must be a carcass down the side of the hill.
Yes, there was a dead deer–a young male with its horns trying to emerge. It was probably hit by a car and got as far as the edge of the woods below the road.
But why were some of the birds spreading their wings? Turns out it is a strategy to regulate their body heat–though sometimes it can also be to dry wet wings.
“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 should provide a means of absorbing solar energy and passively raising their temperature to the daytime level.” https://web.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/Spread-Wing_Postures.html#:~:text=Spread%2Dwing%20postures%20appear%20to,temperature%20to%20the%20daytime%20level.
Some of the birds flew as we got closer. I blew up this pic so you could see better.
The birds were still there the next day when I walked–and were much less nervous about people walking by them.
Most, but not all, of them did fly as I got closer.
On the way back, the birds didn’t really retreat from me very much. This one let me get quite close. These are big birds with a big wing span. Underneath the wings the feathers are ash grey or white. And note the white feet.
These birds were actually doing a good job of cleaning up this poor dead animal. In another day or two, there will be nothing but bones.
And that is how nature works.
But it was interesting to think about the deer and the buzzards a bit on Easter weekend, if you know what I mean. The dead deer was providing life for a LOT of buzzards (25 or so). The deer was, in essence, a bonanza for the buzzards.
Now some days later, someone from the town or county pulled the carcass into the woods, and there is nothing left to see but bones.
Louisa Enright's Blog 