Reporter's note: I've heard people around Chinook talk about "the turkey vultures on the new water tower." I've even noticed the black specks perched on the railing along the catwalk around the tank. A couple of weeks ago Kelsey Harry, the Assistant Librarian at the Blaine County Library said, "Have you ever thought about writing a story about the turkey vultures? I've recently gotten interested in them and they are fascinating birds." That reminded me that I did want to learn more about the local vultures so I began asking around.

I talked to employees of the city of Chinook, thinking they would most likely be aware of the birds. That conversation led me to a couple of conversations with Lee Miller, a local resident who was quite familiar with the birds since they had been roosting in the trees behind his house on Illinois Street for the last seven or eight years. Lee said, "Early this year the vultures got in a big squabble and abandoned the roost at my house." The 'why' they moved on was another layer of mystery about this rather obscure but important bird. Here's a bit of what I learned about turkey vultures and, particularly, the 14 or so that hang out in Chinook.

A southern bird that's gone national

Lee Miller became aware of the turkey vultures in the Chinook area about seven or eight years ago. He said, "They might have been here before, but I was not aware of them. Early on they would sometimes perch on roof tops in town, but mostly they were seen circling in the sky or warming on the water tower." A couple of years before he saw turkey vultures here, he read an article that they had been spotted in Glasgow and were reportedly migrating west. He added, "It wasn't long before I saw them in this area and in Chinook."

Scott Hemmer, a Wildlife Biologist with the Havre office of Montana's Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department, said he's been working out of Havre for more than a decade and the vultures arrived in this area since he's been here. As to their sudden appearance, he said, "Turkey vultures are now seen all over Montana. For many years they were regarded as a 'southern bird,' not seen outside the deep south." Hemmer believes that banning the use of DDT (a pesticide that thinned birds' eggs and killed the embryos) allowed more birds to hatch, requiring more habitat. "Secondly," he said, "The general warming trend has allowed the birds to move further north." Turkey vultures migrate to warmer climate during the winter months.

Miller, who has watched and studied the turkey vultures since they began showing up in Chinook, has another theory. He explained, "Turkey vultures are strictly scavengers, they rely on finding dead animals for food. I noticed that the vultures began showing up about the time we had some diseases that were killing a lot of deer, especially whitetails." Whatever their reasons for expanding their territory, turkey vultures are found in all 48 of the continental U.S. states and in to southern Canada.

A short primer on turkey vultures

Turkey vultures are part of a larger family of vultures that include the California condor. The turkey vulture gets its name from the appearance of its head-a featherless, wrinkled concern that looks like a turkey's head (the featherless head allows the bird to poke its head more easily into a carcass). Their life span, in the wild, is 10 years. They typically weigh about six pounds and have a wing span of six feet. When 'floating' or gliding while looking for food, their wings form a shallow 'V' and the birds may teeter from side to side as they catch thermals to stay aloft. While some mammals are also scavengers, vultures are much more efficient because soaring high in the air they can cover more territory to find carrion. A group of vultures soaring is called a 'kettle.' The name comes from their 'stirring' motion as they fly around.

Less noticeable characteristics of turkey vultures are the fact they have no voice box, but make hissing sounds if threatened. Most birds have a poorly developed sense of smell, the vultures have a very keen sense of smell that allows them to detect rotten meat, their preferred food source. Even turkey vultures have some standards, preferring carrion only a day old. A dead carcass several days old will be avoided.

Their keen sense of smell can to alert humans of possible danger. Rotting meat gives off a chemical called mercaptan, the same chemical added to odorless natural gas that allows humans to smell a gas leak. A group of vultures in an area of a pipeline can indicate a gas leak.

There is no scientific evidence that turkey vultures will prey on small, live animals. Several locals have shared their belief that the vultures will attack cats, small dogs and gophers. Turkey vultures have very short talons which makes them poor hunters for live game. Biologists believe they will eat dead fish, insects, and other invertebrates if necessary.

Turkey vultures have very acidic saliva and stomach juices. The acidic stomach allows them to eat rotted meat with no adverse consequences. Scientists have done studies where turkey vultures eat anthrax-laden meat with no ill effects. The acidic saliva is also a defense mechanism used by both babies in the nest and adults to ward off attackers. This means their feces is also acidic. Lee Miller showed where a roosting turkey vulture inadvertently pooped on Lee's house and peeled the paint. Another unusual behavior is urinating on their legs for cooling, which also helps sanitize them after eating in a carcass.

Turkey vultures soar high in the sky to find carrion. They spread themselves out so more territory is covered. When one vulture goes to a food source, the others soon follow. They can soar, literally, for hours with very little effort. Lee Miller said, "They are not early risers from the roost. They typically wait at least until the sun is up to start moving around." Because their body temperature drops when they roost, they often spend time with their wings spread soaking up the sun's heat to raise their body temperature. Biologists think the sunning also helps kill bacteria that may come off their food sources and helps remove meat pieces that get stuck on their feathers while feeding.

The history of the

Turkey Vultures in Chinook

According to Lee Miller, the vultures first showed up in Chinook "about six or seven years ago." He said, "There was one pair that showed up, and roosted in my trees, for two years. By the third year there were about five birds and by the fifth year they had reached their present number, about 14." He believes the original pair still shows up and the rest are somehow connected to that first pair. He added, "They are like humans in that they have distinct behaviors and ways they do things-like always perching on the same spot on the roost. I'm certain the original pair is still coming back."

But the regular visitors changed their roost this year. Lee said, "In early June I could tell the birds were restless, kind of unsettled. One day they had a big ruckus and left. The next night only one bird returned, then he never came back either." He thinks it might have been a problem of overcrowding or a leadership change.

On a couple of early August mornings most of the local turkey vultures were perched on and around a horse barn out on Seventh Street East, on the flats as the road leaves Chinook. I showed Lee the spot and he said, "I can't believe they are roosting there. They like the very highest trees and to be above everything." He thinks there might be carrion in the area they came back to several times. Over several days the number at the horse barn began to dwindle and some still showed up on the water tower. Where they are currently roosting is not clear.

So, what's the future for these ugly, mobile environmental cleaners in Chinook? The turkey vultures aren't talking-remember, they don't have a voice box. Lee Miller says they typically arrive "the end of May and leave when it starts getting cold, usually sometime in October." Locals who are interested can usually see one or two of them perched on the south water tower in the early evening or after nine or so in the morning. There are often reports of sightings of them soaring outside of town.