Turkey Vultures, Central/Southern NJ (1 Viewer)

The farm my mom works at has a new pair of turkey vultures hanging out in the petting zoo. They are stealing bread from the geese, but are also doing something possibly stranger

They look like a turkey vulture, smell like a turkey vulture, act like one, walk like one, etc. BUT they have 6 fledglings with them. I thought they only laid rarely up to 3 eggs? Any thoughts?

Saranna

Are you sure they're vultures & not guinea fowl?

Positive. We know what guinea fowl look like Used to have them at the farm, until they all ran away.

Fair enough; just wanted to get that possibility out of the way.

You're right about clutch size: usually 2, sometimes 3 & very occasionally 4 (BNA-online); so 6 fledglings have to be the product of 2 or more nests. Can't you ask at the petting zoo, BTW? Doesn't zoo management know anything about the history of the vultures?

Hmm, I didn't think turkey vultures would eat bread... aren't they more carnivores?

Gretchen said:

Hmm, I didn't think turkey vultures would eat bread... aren't they more carnivores?

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According to BNA-online (again), TVs are primarily carrion feeders, but occasionally also take fruit & vegetables (pumpkins, grapes, juniper berries, palm fruit, coconuts). Nothing is said about bread, but then nothing is said about food in captivity in general.

By petting zoo, that's what we call the fenced in area where the geese/ducks and goats are. It's not an actual zoo...it's on a private horse farm. The vultures began hanging out in that area late last summer/early fall. I guess they were staking out a spot to nest? There have been 2 adults only, and 6 fledglings. The adults will come within a few feet of my mom and the farm owner when they're out feeding the other animals. The feldglings stay in the poke salad weeds mostly, but have been fully seen.

Could they have stolen them from another nest, or do they work together in family groups and "babysit" multiple broods maybe?

JerseyEq said:

By petting zoo, that's what we call the fenced in area where the geese/ducks and goats are. It's not an actual zoo...it's on a private horse farm. The vultures began hanging out in that area late last summer/early fall. I guess they were staking out a spot to nest? There have been 2 adults only, and 6 fledglings. The adults will come within a few feet of my mom and the farm owner when they're out feeding the other animals. The feldglings stay in the poke salad weeds mostly, but have been fully seen.

Could they have stolen them from another nest, or do they work together in family groups and "babysit" multiple broods maybe?

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Here's BNA-online again:
"Fledging is gradual process. .....Usually spend 1–3 wk perching and roosting at nest site, being fed by parents, and gradually exploring area by flight, possibly visiting carcasses. Typically leave nest area by 12 wk of age, joining communal roosts or perches if nearby. ... .In s. Wisconsin fledglings from nearby nests join communal roosts sooner than fledglings from more distant nests (MJM). Apparently, young may follow parents on foraging flights, but dependence on parents is short-lived—much shorter than in Black Vulture. In s. Pennsylvania and n. Maryland, adults rarely seen feeding young, even immediately after fledging. In Wisconsin, young from various nests associated with one another rather than with parents after joining communal roost 2–3 wk after first extended flight."

So it looks like what's been turning up at the petting zoo is a flock containing adults & independent immatures not a family group consisting of parents & young.

Thanks for posting about this, BTW. It's been very educational. I'd never heard of Turkey Vultures joining farmyard geese to feed on bread before.

We have fed them (TV's) dropped grapes and they have picked at peach pits here before, assuming the peach flesh is stringy like rotted meat. If I fish from the shore in Guntersville, they sometimes perch 30-40 feet above and watch patiently. I know they don't care for gummy worms (my son has tried).