A turkey vulture looking almost as graceful as a bald eagle. -- Photo by Don DeBold
“We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.” — Martin Luther King.
Travels With Maggie
My daughter, Trish, who one day may laugh again, lives at the end of a narrow road on the outskirts of Camden, Arkansas.
She’s learned to be careful driving the lane at night as deer lurk alongside the road and have been known to spook in the direction of bright headlights. It’s also common to see skunk, raccoon, squirrels, or armadillo scampering across the road – or lying dead along this rural stretch of rough pavement.
It was roadkill armadillo a few days ago when we were driving into town in Trish’s brand new minivan. And feasting on the upturned armadillo carcass were half a dozen vultures.
“Gads I hate those birds,” she moaned as we passed, to which I described their valuable role in helping keep our environment clean.
“I know. I know. But they’re still ugly.”
I don't think I'll ever convince my daughter there's beauty in this red-headed turkey vulture, but photographer Samuel Blanc, http://www.sblanc.com, caught the beauty in this picture.
Being one of those crazy birders who has never met a bird she didn’t like, I disagreed but then shut up as I knew convincing her otherwise was a lost cause. Now the cause is not just lost, it’s found its way into a parallel universe.
While driving home from work, my daughter came upon another roadkill scene and yet more vultures dining inelegantly. One of them, it seems, was even more reluctant than usual to forsake its evening meal.
The end of this tale is less pretty than the vulture. Seems the last one to fly away decided it might look good as a hood ornament on my daughter’s new car, which hadn’t yet 1,000 miles on the odometer.
The vulture put a dent on the vehicle’s hood before realizing this wasn’t such a good idea.
“Dang (actual word used censored) turkey vultures and their ugly red faces,” she darkly muttered when she finally got home and showed me the minor damage. She was gleeful that the bird staggered as it flew away.
I think all hope is lost for me to convince Trish that vultures are actually beautiful and a gift to the world. Wouldn’t you agree.
Pat Bean's blog 
Yes, Pat, I agree that even those creatures that are bottom feeders perform a needed service on the food chain. And I like that they’re not influenced by our opinions of them.
I aagree, Pat, that you (nor I, nor anyone) will never convince those who hate turkey vultures to view them any differently. Too bad, so sad. My personal term for them is “death eagles.” Still a bit grisly, I suppose, but they’re so elegant when they’re soaring on the tiniest of wind currents or balancing in near-gales that I can’t help but admire them. I once hit one, too, that flew across the road in front of me instead of away from the road like the rest of the flock. It hit the top of my van’s windshield and as I looked in the rearview mirror, all I could see was tumbling black and strewing feathers. I felt really bad. After all, these birds are just trying to make it through life the best they can, just like I am. On my way back the same way later, I looked for a dead vulture so I could pay my respects and I was really, really happy to not find any carcass along the road. I’m sure its compatriots didn’t do away with it, so I felt a lot better that maybe I hadn’t killed it after all. Sam
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Wildlife can be bad for transport! A lorry coming down a hill near us in France was stopped by a wild boar that ran across the road, the damamge to both beasts was substantial, with both being carried from the field of battle with no signs of life. At least the boar will be made into good food.
They celebrate the return of the turkey vultures near where I live every spring. It’s a big party in Hinkley where they welcome them back (and call them buzzards, but we all know they are turkey vultures). They return at an opportune time as there seems to be more road kill in the spring months than at anytime during the winter.
Ooops… meant to leave this link as well:
http://www.clemetparks.com/events/buzzards.asp
Well, regardless of their value, I think they’re truly ugly creatures. We get them by the hundreds up here on Vancouver Island in September and October and the country roads in my area become their feast tables. I actually wrote an article about them for my local newspaper and was amazed to learn just how efficient they were. Amazing birds!