Photos: Scavengers Alight in Huntington Woods

Curious passers-by snapped photos Sunday of what appeared to be a pair of Turkey Vultures on a lawn in Huntington Woods.

The turkey-size scavengers snacked on the remains of a squirrel at the corner of Borgman and Huntington as drivers stopped to take pictures and a nearby resident photographed the raptors from a comfortable distance, just inside her front door.

Startled, one of the vultures spread its wings – which had a span as wide as an adult man's open arms – and flew away.

"Turkey Vultures are majestic but unsteady soarers. Their teetering flight with very few wingbeats is characteristic," according to Cornell University's All About Birds website. "Look for them gliding relatively low to the ground, sniffing for carrion, or else riding thermals up to higher vantage points."

The website offers the following facts about Turkey Vultures.

• Turkey Vultures are accustomed to living near humans and snacking off of our leavings. You will often see them in farm fields or hanging out next to the road. However, they are not likely to be in your backyard unless something has died or else you have a very large backyard.
• Not everyone sees vultures as a creepy harbinger of death—many see them as sacred for their cleanup role. Tibetan Buddhists practice “sky burials,” where animals, usually vultures, consume their dead. Similarly, Zoroastrians offer their dead to be consumed by vultures on a raised platform, called a dakhma.
• Vultures appear to have excellent immune systems, happily feasting on carcasses without contracting botulism, anthrax, cholera, or salmonella. Unlike their Black Vulture relatives, Turkey Vultures almost never attack living prey.
• Turkey Vultures don’t build full nests. They may scrape out a spot in the soil or leaf litter, pull aside obstacles, or arrange scraps of vegetation or rotting wood. Once found, many of these nest sites may be used repeatedly for a decade or more.
• Turkey Vultures have been increasing in number across North America since the 1980s. Before that, they were threatened by side-effects of the pesticide DDT. Today they are among the most common large carnivorous birds in North America.

Do you have unusual wildlife photos from Berkley or Huntington Woods? Upload them to the gallery!