Turkey Vulture

Family Cathartidae, Cathartes aura

The turkey vulture is sometimes referred to as a buzzard, but the real buzzards of the world are hawks. Vultures throw up when they get excited or scared and go to the bathroom down their legs to keep cool. Turkey vultures are 2 feet tall and have a wingspan of 6 feet. They are heavy for their wingspan so they soar on warm air currents while looking (and smelling) for food: carrion. New World vultures like the turkey vulture and black vulture are now considered to be more closely related to storks than to hawks or eagles.

Name: Turk

Sex: Female

Hatched: 1986

Personality: Doesn't like the color bright yellow, loves to show off at shows.

Name: Skinner

Sex: Male

Hatched: June 5, 1993

Weight: 3 lb, 10 oz

Why is the bird here? To educate the public on turkey vultures. Raised in St. Louis.

Personality: Very eager flier, loves to sun himself in the mornings

What does this bird do in the show: Flies over a fence to the speaker. Flies several times in shows.

Name: Eureka

Sex: unknown

Hatched: 5/27/1999

Weight: 3 lb, 14.5 oz

Why is the bird here? His egg was found in a barn, and a teacher hatched them in an incubator, thinking they were turkey eggs. When he discovered what he had actually hatched, he turned Eureka over to WBS.

Personality: Sometimes afraid of odd things like leaves blowing in the wind.

What does this bird do in the show? Flight demonstration.

Black Vulture

Family Cathartidae, Coragyps atratus

They are just over 2 feet tall, with a wingspan of 4.5 feet. Like the turkey vulture, they are often referred to as buzzards. Although like other vultures they eat mostly carrion, large groups have been known to kill skunks and opossums. They will also use turkey vultures for their better sense of smell, by following them to a carcass and them chasing the turkey vultures off the meal.

Name: Harriet

Sex: Female

Hatched: 5/15/1990

Weight: 4 lb, 1.5 oz

Personality: Generally very nice, although she nips a little when she's impatient. Sometimes shy and sometimes outgoing.

What does this bird do in the show? She is walked on stage.

King Vulture

Family Cathartidae, Sarcoramphus papa

The King Vulture is native to Central and South America. They are a very colorful vulture, with pink, orange, purple and yellow on their heads and necks. It takes them 5 years to achieve full adult coloring. The knob of flesh at the top of their beak is known as a caruncle and is larger on males than on females. They stand 2.5 feet tall, and have a wingspan up to 6 feet wide. Unlike most social vultures, they are generally solitary.

Name: Baton Rouge

Sex: Male

Hatched: 1998

Weight: 7 lbs

Why is the bird here? He was hatched at WBS for educational purposes.

Personality: He is very sweet and loves to play with sisal rope toys.

What does this bird do in the show: Follows the trainer in a loop around the stage.

Name: Gilbert

Sex: Male

Hatched: 1999

Why is the bird here? Hatched for education.

Personality: Very sweet, he likes to nibble on anything and everything.

Hooded Vulture

Family Aegypiidae, Necrosyrtes monachus

At two feet tall, this small, dark brown vulture has a very slender pinkish bill. It gets its name from the soft curly feathers that cover the top of its head. They are found in Central Africa. Only hooded vultures are common in forested areas.

Name: Fred

Sex: Male

Hatched: 1997

Personality: Named after a former supervisor as a joke and the name stuck.

Egyptian Vulture

Family Accipitridae, Neophron percnopterus

This shaggy-headed vulture is small and can't compete with most other vultures at a carcass. They get a quick bite by being first to arrive at a carcass, but then other birds get most of the meat. Instead they often raid breeding colonies to steal chicks and eggs. They can carry eggs in their beaks and then use rocks to break them open. They are native to most of Africa and southern Europe.

Name: Osiris

Sex: Male

Hatched: Spring 1998

Weight: 4 lbs

Personality: Loves to eat raw eggs, in fact for shows he has perfected the art of cracking eggs with a rock!