Vulture: The Private Life of an Unloved Bird

Description

Few animals have a worse reputation than the vulture. But is it deserved? With Vulture, Katie Fallon offers an irresistible argument to the contrary, tracing a year in the life of a typical North American turkey vulture. Turkey vultures, also known as buzzards, are the most widely distributed and abundant scavenging birds of prey on the planet, found from central Canada to the southern tip of Argentina and nearly everywhere in between. Deftly drawing on the most up-to-date scientific papers and articles and weaving those in with interviews with world-renowned raptor and vulture experts and her own compelling natural history writing, Fallon examines all aspects of the bird’s natural history: breeding, incubating eggs, raising chicks, migrating, and roosting. The result is an intimate portrait of an underappreciated bird—one you’ll never look at in the same way again. Contents Introduction: The Spokesbird One: Vulture Culture Two: The Private Lives of Public Birds Three: Rockshelter Four: Wings and Prayers Five: Rebirth Six: Hill of the Sacred Eagles Seven: On the Move Eight: Virginia Is for Vultures Nine: Battlefield Ghosts Ten: Welcome Back, Buzzards Epilologue: Spokesbirds for the Spokesbirds Afterword: What You Can Do Acknowledgments Bibliography Index Illustrations