What’s In A Name? Flying Birds Cause a “Buzz”

By Lamar James, U of A Cooperative Extension

First posted on 01-21-2008

HOPE, Ark. - A recent question from the public set Gerald Alexander off to do some research. Someone wanted to know about buzzards, and the veteran Hempstead County extension agent was stumped. County agents are jacks of all trades and are highly trained, but buzzard questions are a little far afield for most agents.

Alexander proudly reports that he found the answer to the question and dug up some interesting information to boot.

“When you use the term buzzard in reference to the large carrion-eating birds we are all familiar with, we are using it incorrectly,” he reports. “The term buzzard actually refers to a family of hawks found in England. England doesn’t have vultures, so the English pioneers who came to the North American continent wrongly called the flying birds they saw buzzards, and the name is still used today.”

The correct name for them is vulture, Alexander says. In the past 20 years, DNA evidence has revealed that the seven species of vultures found in the Americas is different from the 15 species of vulture found in Europe, Asia and Africa.

Old and New World vultures are similar in some respects, but different in others. Old World vultures have strong feet that are designed to grasp like their ancestral raptor ancestors, while the New World vultures cannot grasp. New World vultures can run along the ground, while Old World vultures can only hop around.

“In Arkansas, we find two species of vultures, the turkey vulture and the black vulture,” Alexander notes. “Both species have a common carrion-based diet, and both will also eat other foods. On occasion, both species will also attack young and helpless animals. Neither species vocalizes much beyond a soft hiss or groan.”

The turkey vulture is found throughout North America, Alexander says. It’s one of North

America’s largest birds of prey, measuring about 32 inches in length with a wingspread of 6 feet. Its identifying characteristics include a brown-black color with a bald, red head, white bill and

yellow feet. It has excellent vision, and, unlike most birds, a keen sense of smell that’s three times more sensitive than that of the black vulture.

In flight, the silver-gray flight feathers contrast with the black feathers of the underwing, and its tail extends beyond its feet. Once aloft, it holds its wings in a V angle while seeking rising thermals of warm air it can ride for hours. It conserves energy by rocking from side to side without ever flapping its wings.

“Incredibly, vultures have been seen as high as 20,000 feet riding thermals of warm air,” Alexander says.

The black vulture is found in the southern United States, but it’s constantly expanding its range farther north. It’s smaller than the turkey vulture, measuring 22-27 inches in length with a wingspan of 4½ feet to 5 feet. It has black feathers with a bald, gray head.

In flight, he says, the tips of the black vulture’s wings are a silvery-white, and its tail is short. Because its sense of smell isn’t as acute as the turkey vulture, the black vulture will often watch the turkey vulture and follow it down to a meal. The black vulture has a short, choppy wing beat.

The turkey vulture is gentle and non-aggressive compared to the black vulture.

Alexander says vultures might make a pretty good pet, except for some of their disgusting personal habits such as eating food that smells to high heaven and regurgitating food with an offensive odor that will deter most predators.

The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the U of A Division of Agriculture.