{"id":142752,"date":"2025-04-09T02:46:50","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T07:46:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=142752"},"modified":"2025-07-07T12:39:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T17:39:09","slug":"squabbling-turkey-vultures-on-a-hog-carcass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/04\/09\/squabbling-turkey-vultures-on-a-hog-carcass\/","title":{"rendered":"Squabbling Turkey Vultures On A Hog Carcass"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two days ago, while visiting Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma<\/span><\/a>, I had the opportunity to photograph two Turkey Vultures squabbling on a hog carcass.<\/p>\n

\"TurkeyTurkey Vulture – This is my hog! \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f11, 1\/1000, ISO 800, +0.3 EV, Canon RF 800mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

When I took the photo above, I laughed out loud\u2014I had to! I could already envision several captions for it, and I decided on “Turkey Vulture \u2013 This is my hog!” because the vulture on the left looked like it was saying that to the one on the right.<\/p>\n

Turkey Vultures aren\u2019t the most handsome birds, or even appealing to most people. Me? I find them interesting, and I\u2019m grateful for them because they\u2019re part of Mother Nature\u2019s clean-up crew.<\/p>\n

The hog carcass the vultures are on has been in that field for several weeks, and these birds are helping to clean it up by feeding on it.<\/p>\n

\"TurkeyTurkey Vultures on a hog carcass \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f11, 1\/1000, ISO 800, +0.3 EV, Canon RF 800mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve said much of this about Turkey Vultures before, but here I go again.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Turkey Vultures, and scavengers in general, are unsung heroes in local ecosystems. Here\u2019s how they help:<\/p>\n

1. Natural sanitation crew:<\/strong>
\nThey clean up carcasses that could otherwise spread disease. By consuming dead animals, they help prevent outbreaks of diseases like anthrax, rabies, and botulism, which can linger in decaying bodies.<\/p>\n

2. Ecosystem balance:<\/strong>
\nBy quickly removing carrion, they reduce food sources for less desirable scavengers like feral dogs or rats, which can cause ecological imbalances or bring their own set of health risks.<\/p>\n

3. Nutrient recycling:<\/strong>
\nThey help return nutrients to the soil. After digestion and waste, what’s left gets broken down and reabsorbed into the environment, nature\u2019s way of not wasting a thing.<\/p>\n

4. Low-impact diners:<\/strong>
\nTurkey Vultures don\u2019t typically kill prey or damage live plants. They live off what\u2019s already dead, which makes their environmental impact low and their benefits high.<\/p>\n

5. Disease resistance:<\/strong>
\nTheir strong stomach acid can neutralize many harmful pathogens in rotting meat, meaning they safely consume things that would make most animals sick, and keep those pathogens from spreading.<\/p>\n

So yeah, they\u2019re not exactly glamorous, but Turkey Vultures are like the ecological equivalent of a deep-cleaning crew with iron stomachs and a taste for recycling.<\/p>\n

That’s pretty impressive when you think about it.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to view more of my Turkey Vulture photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two days ago, while visiting Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma, I had the opportunity to photograph two Turkey Vultures squabbling on a hog carcass.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":142746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,13973,13974,1315],"tags":[4004,14190,13984,9072,4322,16180,16381,153,165,16383,2443,4618,4617,16382],"class_list":["post-142752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-oklahoma","category-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","category-turkey-vultures","tag-adult","tag-bottomland-hardwood-forest","tag-bottomlands","tag-carcass","tag-cathartes-aura","tag-corn-field","tag-hog","tag-raptors","tag-spring","tag-stubble-field","tag-turkey-vulture","tag-vulture","tag-vultures","tag-wild-hog"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t