{"id":36989,"date":"2016-03-11T05:41:38","date_gmt":"2016-03-11T12:41:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=36989"},"modified":"2025-09-16T06:55:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T11:55:17","slug":"turkey-vultures-are-natures-clean-up-crew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/03\/11\/turkey-vultures-are-natures-clean-up-crew\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkey Vultures Are Nature’s Clean Up Crew"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TurkeyTurkey Vulture warming in the sunlight – Nikon D810, f9, 1\/1000, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday on my way back from the West Desert I saw my first of the year Turkey Vulture soaring above I-80. I don’t think Turkey Vultures are the most beautiful of the birds I photograph but I truly appreciate what they do while they are here in Utah.<\/p>\n

Turkey Vultures are Nature’s clean up crew. They consume road kill and other dead animals and and in doing so they clean up the messy stuff. These Turkey Vulture images were taken last July in Box Elder County near the Promontory Mountain range.<\/p>\n

\"Turkey Turkey Vulture near the Promontory Mountains – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

After seeing about a half a dozen dead cattle yesterday near the road to North and South Willow Canyons in Tooele County<\/span><\/a> I thought that the vulture I saw needed to head south just a bit for a free meal. The rancher(s) probably won’t pick up the dead cattle that were most likely hit by vehicles and died so the natural clean up crew might as well eat them.<\/p>\n

Is that a messy business? Yeah, but the Turkey Vultures can do the job.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

PS – I also spotted my first of the year Sage Thrasher the other day on Antelope Island<\/em><\/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":"

Turkey Vultures are Nature’s clean up crew. They consume road kill and other dead animals and and in doing so they clean up the messy stuff. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":156158,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1148,1315,26],"tags":[4004,2663,4322,11118,4104,4528,153,5036,5387,2443,4618,4617,8917],"class_list":["post-36989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-turkey-vultures","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-cathartes-aura","tag-operched","tag-perched","tag-promontory-mountains","tag-raptors","tag-sunning","tag-thermoregulating","tag-turkey-vulture","tag-vulture","tag-vultures","tag-wooden-post"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-adult-mia-mcpherson-5100.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-9CB","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":56936,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/03\/30\/turkey-vultures-have-returned-to-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":36989,"position":0},"title":"Turkey Vultures Have Returned To Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm itching to get back out into the field because I want to see my first of the year Turkey Vultures on the wing.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Turkey Vulture on a grassy hillside, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/turkey-vulture-hillside-mia-mcpherson-5703.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/turkey-vulture-hillside-mia-mcpherson-5703.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/turkey-vulture-hillside-mia-mcpherson-5703.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"September 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Vultures are fascinating birds and they are great for the environments around the globe that they are found in, we need to do more to help them today and every day.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Thermoregulating adult Turkey Vulture, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/turkey-vulture-thermoregulation-mia-mcpherson-2716.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/turkey-vulture-thermoregulation-mia-mcpherson-2716.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/turkey-vulture-thermoregulation-mia-mcpherson-2716.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 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