{"id":41671,"date":"2016-09-03T05:27:12","date_gmt":"2016-09-03T11:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=41671"},"modified":"2025-09-16T09:38:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T14:38:34","slug":"international-vulture-awareness-day-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/09\/03\/international-vulture-awareness-day-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"International Vulture Awareness Day 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TurkeyTurkey Vulture thermoregulating in a field<\/span><\/p>\n

Today is International Vulture Awareness Day.\u00a0 Vultures in the U.S. are doing well except for our California Condors because although they have made a comeback from near extinction they still face lead poisoning from ammunition in the carcasses they consume and from the use of DDT over four decades ago<\/span><\/a> which causes their eggs to have such thin shells that they can’t be hatched.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Turkey Vulture on a power pole<\/span><\/p>\n

Vultures and condors are scavengers and help to clean up the environment by consuming carrion, road kill and gut piles left from the kills of human and non-human hunters. Lead toxicity has been identified as the leading cause of death in condors in California condor reintroduction programs because they eat lead pellets on some of the carrion they consume. Non-lead based ammunition is available and I hope that one day all hunters will use ammunition that is lead free to help the condors and vultures of the world. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Turkey Vulture wing lift<\/span><\/p>\n

In Europe the use of diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory used in cattle and pigs, is highly toxic to vultures and kills them within hours after they consume carcasses contaminated with diclofenac. There are safer alternatives for that drug and Europe needs to ban diclofenac now<\/span><\/a> to save their vultures.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Black Vulture<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, I know many people think that vultures are ugly or have faces that only a mother could love but they fill an ecological niche as nature\u2019s recyclers. They are great scavengers plus the world would be a far stinkier place without them.<\/p>\n

Events to raise awareness about the vultures of the world are taking place all over the globe.<\/p>\n

Carrion.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Vultures and condors are scavengers and help to clean up the environment by consuming carrion, road kill and gut piles left from the kills of human and non-human hunters. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":156215,"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":[27,4614,1148,25,2000,862,1315,26],"tags":[2663,4615,4846,4322,4616,5408,5407,4067,4619,4071,4104,153,4843,5387,2443,4617],"class_list":["post-41671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-black-vultures","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-florida","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-roosevelt-wetlands","category-turkey-vultures","category-utah","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-black-vulture","tag-carrion","tag-cathartes-aura","tag-coragyps-atratus","tag-ddt","tag-diclofenac","tag-immature","tag-international-vulture-awareness-day","tag-juvenile","tag-perched","tag-raptors","tag-scavengers","tag-thermoregulating","tag-turkey-vulture","tag-vultures"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vultures-thermoregulating-mia-mpcherson-2398.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-aQ7","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":48330,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/09\/02\/international-vulture-awareness-day-2017\/","url_meta":{"origin":41671,"position":0},"title":"International Vulture Awareness Day 2017","author":"Mia 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 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/turkey-vulture-thermoregulation-mia-mcpherson-2716.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":115586,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/09\/02\/international-vulture-awareness-day-2023\/","url_meta":{"origin":41671,"position":1},"title":"International Vulture Awareness Day 2023","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is International Vulture Awareness Day 2023. I admit to having a soft spot for vultures because they are often misunderstood, and because I tend to stand up for those who have no voice.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two Turkey Vultures on a spring morning, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/turkey-vultures-on-a-cliff-mia-mcpherson-3929.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/turkey-vultures-on-a-cliff-mia-mcpherson-3929.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/turkey-vultures-on-a-cliff-mia-mcpherson-3929.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/black-vulture-adult-mia-mcpherson-8191.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/black-vulture-adult-mia-mcpherson-8191.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/black-vulture-adult-mia-mcpherson-8191.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/black-vulture-adult-mia-mcpherson-8191.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":68295,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/04\/11\/thermoregulating-turkey-vulture-close-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":41671,"position":3},"title":"Thermoregulating Turkey Vulture Close Up","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Mornings have still been fairly chilly here in northern Utah and the Turkey Vultures that recently arrived on spring migration have been taking advantage of the rising sun by thermoregulating to help chase off the chill.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Turkey Vulture thermoregulating close up, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/turkey-vulture-thermoregulating-close-up-right-mia-mcpherson-2262.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/turkey-vulture-thermoregulating-close-up-right-mia-mcpherson-2262.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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"Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Close up of an adult Turkey Vulture thermoregulating in Box Elder County, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/turkey-vulture-thermoregulating-close-up-left-mia-mcpherson-2298.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/turkey-vulture-thermoregulating-close-up-left-mia-mcpherson-2298.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/turkey-vulture-thermoregulating-close-up-left-mia-mcpherson-2298.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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