Dr. Wayne Nelson Presents on Turkey Vulture

      On November 24 Dr. Wayne Nelson gave a presentation the the Red Deer River Naturalists(RDRN) in the turkey vulture. Dr. Nelson has been interested in birds all his life and his professional life involved birds.

photo by Stuart Little

     Towards the end of his career Dr. Nelson became interested in turkey vultures. Turkey vultures had learned to use the upstairs and attics of abandoned farm houses on the prairie. Traditionally these birds occupied territory further east and south.

     Dr. Nelson has been finding ,observing and documenting nests since his retirement. They have started putting wing tags on the young turkey vultures with the hope of learning more about these birds. The birds have some nasty gross habits such as regurgitating food and pooping on their legs to keep them cool. These birds have an amazing sense of smell and can find carcasses over a wide area.

      Dr. Nelson showed many pictures of turkey vultures in their nesting sites in old houses. he described attempts to try and set up cameras which would catch the birds in their activities.

    Dr. Nelson's presentation was very informative and humorous to boot.