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This Turkey Vulture with wing tag P7, was reported & photographed by Yu-Che-Huang in Irvine on 8/7/11. |
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| Project
Description |
| In
2006, Pete Bloom and Scott Thomas, Jeff Kidd, and Spence Porter,
trapped Turkey Vultures for a joint project with Hawk
Mountain Sanctuary, PA. The purpose of the project was to
track the migration routes of the vultures from their nesting
grounds in the U.S. and Canada to their wintering haunts in
Mexico and beyond. Other biologists across the U.S. also completed
the same process so that Hawk Mountain could track vultures
traveling across different regions of North America simultaneously. |
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| Our
group was tasked with trapping 5 Turkey Vultures as they passed
through our area towards their breeding grounds to the north.
Four migrant vultures were successfully fitted with transmitters
and have been providing a wealth of information about the routes
these birds travel, how far they travel, their destinations,
and other information.
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| |
| Though
we planned to target migrating vultures in the southern California
region, the first vulture we caught and fitted with a transmitter,
turned out to be a local resident. Too bad we didn’t figure
that out before the satellite started tracking the bird in big
circles around Orange County, but it turned out well anyways.
Despite the fact that the bird did not provide the information
Hawk Mountain was seeking, it did provide us with some interesting
data about our local vultures, including the possibility that
they travel farther around southern CA than previously thought.
|
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| So,
it has been valuable to follow this local bird and get satellite
data, as well as a good number of sightings of the conspicuous
identification marker that was installed on the bird’s
wing, called a Patagial tag (P-tag), which is similar to the
I.D. tags used on California Condors. These tags are easily
read with binoculars or captured in print with digital cameras. |
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| The
satellite transmitter on our local vulture has unfortunately
lived out its life expectancy, so we would like to retrieve
the transmitter since they are very expensive, and refit the
bird with a smaller, standard UHF transmitter (the type that
requires a handheld receiver to track it). There is a lot of
valuable information to be obtained from local vultures, including
their interactions with other flocks and locating breeding locations,
which is otherwise difficult to obtain. |
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| We
are attempting to re-trap the local vulture and to replace its
transmitter. To do this, we will have to trap a good number
of other local vultures before we get the one we want (70 have
been captured in the Irvine Lake area). The trapping will provide
us with the opportunity to mark a significant number of vultures
with patagial tags. Additionally we will be able to contribute
to a study being done by Veterinarians and Biologists at UC
Davis on lead contamination levels in Turkey Vultures, ultimately
to be compared with lead levels in California Condors.
|
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| So,
with a good number of birds tagged, we will have ample opportunities
to learn more about breeding behaviors, territory size, distance
traveled, and interactions between the county’s 6-7 major
groupings of vultures. |
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| Birders,
we need your help! |
We
are hoping you can help us by spotting the marked vultures and
giving us information on your sightings.
Long time Sea and Sage member and Raptor Biologist, Peter Bloom,
along with Scott Thomas and the Sea and Sage Raptor Research
Program participants have been working on tracking Turkey Vultures
in Orange County. To do so they have marked a good number of
adult vultures with conspicuous white wing tags (called patagial
tags or P-Tags), which have black alpha/numeric sequences (such
as a number with a dot; 26?, or F1 on a white tag). The data
from sightings will help us learn more about the behavior and
breeding habits of our local Turkey Vulture populations, as
well as interactions between the 6 or 7 major flocks around
the county. |
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| These
tags are easily read with binoculars when the birds are perched
and/or in flight. Pete and Scott are looking for information
on sightings of these birds and photos when possible. We are
also looking for a few individuals to adopt a Turkey Vulture
roost in Orange County. We need observations taken once or twice
a month at some of our traditional roosts. |
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| Data
Needed — |
| • Your
Name and Contact Info |
| • Photos
(if available) |
| • Location
of Sighting |
| • Date
of Sighting |
| • Tag
info such as: white tag with the number on left
wing |
| • Brief
behavior notes such as: perched, soaring, foraging,
etc. |
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|
This
Turkey Vulture with wing tag F9, was reported &
photographed by Bob Cheung in Yorba Linda in 2013. |
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| If
you see any Turkey Vultures with a wing tag – please send the info listed above to any of these four contacts: |
| • Scott Thomas at |
| • Cheryl Thomas at |
| • Pete Bloom at |
| • Nancy Kenyon at |
| Your information will help the biologists learn more about the movements of these Turkey Vultures, which is pertinent information for their study. We appreciate your help! |
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| updated 5/6/13 |
