Watch Out For Those Buzzards!
Posted on Mar 27, 2009 under Keeping chickens |
Once upon a time there was a farmer down in south Georgia who
kept chickens. He didn’t keep very many, in fact, he only kept
four or five hens and one very lucky rooster. They were a very
happy little family of chickens, they lived in a nice coup that
many envied, they had more than enough to eat and drink, and
they all enjoyed each other’s company immensely. And so it was
for many, many years.
One day the hens and rooster were standing about talking, and
one of the hens noted just how fortunate they were to live in
such splendid conditions. She also noted that a very lonely old
buzzard had recently spoken to her, and that she felt very sorry
for her.
“Why would you feel sorry for a withered, craggy old
she-buzzard?” one of the other hens asked.
“Because,” the caring hen noted, “she’s a dried-up dismal old
thing, even her feathers and beak look like they’re dyed, and
she loves our coup more than anything in the world. She talks
about it all the time, in fact, I can just see in her eyes the
immense love she possesses for our home here. In fact, because
of that, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. We have more than
enough to eat and drink, we have plenty of living space,
therefore I think we should invite the lonely old buzzard to
live amongst us. She’ll be happy and we’ll have done a good
thing.” Without giving it so much as a second thought, the hens
and the rooster happily agreed to invite the buzzard to live
amongst them.
Problems began the moment the shrewish old buzzard entered the
pen. She immediately took a liking to the rooster, and he,
abandoning all logic and reason, took a casual liking to her.
They could be seen clucking and squawking away at almost all
hours of the day or night, and they appeared to be becoming
quite close. Naturally, this concerned all of the hens, but they
were never ones to interfere in each other’s lives, so they left
the mismatched two to coo and wink at each other. This did not
turn out to be the best way of handling the situation. Soon, the
old buzzard began wanting more and more of the rooster’s time.
He quickly started backing away, as he loved time with his hens
and had no intention of giving up his friendships with any of
them. He also disliked the fact that the old buzzard would
squawk about him and their personal business to anyone that
would listen, especially the unusual bird that flew overhead
from time to time, the mysterious left-winged Macaw. Finally,
the rooster got so tired of her squawking that he totally lost
interest in the dyed up old buzzard, first he grew silent when
in her company, then he finally bid her to leave the pen.
The wicked old buzzard got very upset at this, and immediately
flew about the gilded coup, destroying everything that she
possibly could. She fouled the water so that none of the
chickens could drink it, and she destroyed every nest that she
possibly could. Finally, with their patience at a collective
end, the hens took charge and deposited the cranky old
she-buzzard outside of the coup, and sealed it so that she could
never return. The chickens had a very hard time restoring their
coup to its former status. Some things had to be tossed away,
some were restored, and some are still being attended to as I
scribe the words of this story. And what happened to the
miserable old buzzard? Well, she finally started up a little
nest of her own way down in the deep, dark woods, far, far away
from everyone. She never found another rooster, no hens would
play with her, and she found herself spending most all of her
time with two aged parrots and one puffed-up goonie bird. They
now spend their lives squawking away endlessly in the deep woods
where no one ever hears them, no one wants to hear them, and the
most important item of discussion they endeavor each day is what
the rooster and hens might be up to.
The morals of this story? Really, they’re quite simple. If you
want happy, contented chickens, keep misery-ridden old buzzards
out of the hen house. If you want to stay a happy rooster, keep
away from old buzzards altogether. Just remember that the very
worst crap from the coup will always be far, far sweeter than
anything a moldy old buzzard can lay before you…
Ed Williams
http://www.articlesbase.com/advice-articles/watch-out-for-those-buzzards-159.html
March 27th, 2009 at 10:51 am
What were these birds doing high overhead circling as a group?
I looked up around noon on a hike today in Minnesota and saw a large flock of crow-sized birds soaring very high in the air, circling almost like a school of fish will turn together all at once. They were circling over and over and hardly flapped their wings. We watched them for about five minutes. The sun would catch different sides of them and all at once they’d change appearance in the light as they made their synchronized turns. There were about 30 or 40 of them, and at times their wings looked very black while their bodies looked lighter in color when directly overhead. Beyond that I can’t identify them. What were they doing? The only reference I have is how buzzards will circle together over a weakened animal, waiting for it to die before landing around it.
I figure someone who knows about birds will recognize this.
They seemed a little larger than crows, actually, but not being a birder myself I don't have many names memorized to choose for comparison. This was in St. Paul, a little early I think for most migrations, although I've seen a lot of geese coming through already.
I'm interested in what they were doing as much as what they were. One possibility we thought of other than hunting was "play" but frankly it was such an organized behavior that it "felt" they were pretty serious.
March 27th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
i saw that once too, and i thought it was awesome. i'm gonna go find clips on youtube right now.
References :
March 27th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
I live in Minnesota too. There are Turkey Vultures, but I don't know if they form groups that large. Immature Bald Eagles are brown in color with spots, but I've never seen more than seven or eight at one time. It could have been Cormorants, Cranes, Golden Eagles, or Hawks forming up before migrating. Too bad they weren't closer to get a better visual.
References :
March 27th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Sometimes hawks and other birds of prey will catch the same wind currents and circle in them to gain altitude and relax a bit. I am not sure about the synchronized turns, but it may have just been a safety issue. If one bird turns the wrong way, it would prob. have been slammed into causeing an air collision. Another option could be that this group of birdshave interesting mating rituals. For example, passenger pigeons flew in large groups and when their wings touched in the air it would stimulate the mating rituals/behaviors. I am not sure what other kinds of birds do this, but it could be possible.
References :
March 27th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Its hard to determine what the birds were. It is possible that they were Turkey Vultures. Its difficult from the ground to determine size. Its also difficult to see detail without binoculars. If they were back lit that makes it even harder.
I can tell you what they were doing, though. This time of year migration has begun. Groups of birds, like vultures, hawks, white pelicans and some other species will find a rising thermal. They will ride the thermal up in these groups, sometimes called kettles, because it resembles a boiling motion. When they reach a certain height they will take off, gliding instead of flapping. It saves energy.
Here in Texas we see huge groups of hawks doing this along the coast. I was at a hawk watch in Corpus Christi Texas about 10 years ago and saw over 400,000 Broad-winged Hawks coming through. One kettle had over 40,000 birds!
References :
March 27th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Many species of raptors (birds of prey) gather in large numbers before migrating. I know there are big gatherings in Minnesota that birders from all over the country go to, and it is getting to be the right time of year. This very well could have been what you saw.
References :
March 27th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
The time of year, coupled with the behavior you describe, leads me to guess you saw a group of Turkey Vultures. They often gather in large groups and soar on the thermals.
If you are interested in learning more about the birds in MN, the Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union is the group to go to. Their webpage is here: http://moumn.org/index.html
References :