Missouri Turkey Vultures

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Welcome to the Missouri Turkey Vultures! This nest is located in the top of a barn in Marshall, Missouri. Turkey vultures have only recently begun nesting again after an absence of several years. In 2022, the vultures laid egg #1 on April 23 @ 4:45 AM.

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About the Marshall Turkey Vultures

About the Turkey Vultures

The Marshall Turkey Vultures are nesting in an empty hay loft in a barn on private property near Marshall, MO. In general, vultures arrive in late March or early April and lay eggs in early May. Hatch begins about 28 days after the second egg is laid. Both parents incubate eggs and brood young.

Vultures eat primarily carrion. Although they prefer relatively fresh carrion, they are unable to tear carcasses open, which means they must wait until a carcass putrefies or is opened by mammals or larger vultures. This may be why they have been documented following bald eagles and black vultures.

Adult Turkey Vultures regurgitate food for their young, who fledge roughly sixty days after hatching. To learn more about turkey vultures in general, please follow this link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website.

Adults

We will have more information after the adults return. Although vultures are classified as a member of the order  Accipitriformes, and so related to hawks, eagles, and falcons, males and female birds are similar in size and lack the strong feet and talons of most Accipitriforme birds.

Nests

Turkey vultures lay eggs in dark, quiet recesses, including rock outcrops, mammal burrows, hollow logs, thickets, hollow trees, abandoned stick nests, and abandoned buildings. Nest sites must be dark and isolated from human disturbance.

Quick facts
Common name: Turkey vulture
Scientific name: Cathartes aura
Both Sexes
Length: 25.2-31.9 in (64-81 cm) | Weight: 70.5 oz (2000 g)
Wingspan: 66.9-70.1 in (170-178 cm)
Lifespan: 20+ years in the wild. The oldest known turkey vulture, Tolouse, is 38 years old, and lives at the San Francisco Zoo.

Turkey Vulture Vocalization
This vocalization was taken from our cam in 2013. It includes two young vultures food begging and chasing a parent.

Learn More About Bald Eagles
August 31, 2023: Waterfowl against a full Flyway moon. Full moon counts are still sometimes used to gather data on nocturnal migrants.

On Migration

Keep your eyes on the Flyway! Birdcast predicts a heavy night for September 5th and 6th in the area of the Flyway. Listen for nocturnal migrants at night and look for nocturnal and diurnal migrants resting and feeding during the day.

August 18, 2023: I love how s/he was turning just right so that the light was shining on its wingpits. Wingpits are my favorite part of a juvie!

How High Can a Bald Eagle Fly?

How high can a Bald Eagle fly? Can an eagle fly to 50,000 feet to escape a hurricane? A look at what the data says!

April 25, 2023: DH2 sprawls comfortably in the nest.

From bobble heads to eaglets: Natal down, thermal down, and flight feathers!

As DH2 starts to sprout pinfeathers, we’re getting questions about natal down, thermal down, and juvenile feathers. Unless otherwise stated, the information in this blog applies to altricial birds, although most research in this area has been done on precocial and semi-precocial birds like ducks, geese, and cranes. Altricial and precocial birds have some marked differences in pre-hatch follicular development and post-hatch molts.   Natal down, thermal down, and juvenile feathers Does thermal down sprout from natal down pores? Do flight

April 28, 2023: DH2

Eaglet Growth and Development: Week Four

We’re writing a series of blogs about the first few weeks of an eaglet’s life. An eaglet spends roughly 75 to 80 days in the nest. For about the first half, it grows and gains weight. For about the second half, it grows flight feathers and starts developing the skills it will need post-fledge. We will focus on week four in this blog. During week three (fourteen to twenty-one days), DH2 shed most of its natal down, gained a lot

April 24, 2023: DH2. Look at that footpad!

Eaglet Growth and Development: Week Three

We’re writing a series of blogs about the first few weeks of an eaglet’s life. An eaglet spends roughly 75 to 80 days in the nest. For about the first half, it grows and gains weight. For about the second half, it grows flight feathers and starts developing the skills it will need post-fledge. We will focus on week three in this blog. DH2 turns 18 days old today. During week two (seven to 14 days), its footpads and talons

Click for More About Bald Eagles
News

We not have any Turkey Vulture news. Keep checking back!

August 31, 2023: Waterfowl against a full Flyway moon. Full moon counts are still sometimes used to gather data on nocturnal migrants.

On Migration

Keep your eyes on the Flyway! Birdcast predicts a heavy night for September 5th and 6th in the area of the Flyway. Listen for nocturnal migrants at night and look for nocturnal and diurnal migrants resting and feeding during the day.

August 4, 2023: DNF on the north nest tree.

2023 North Nest Recap

The 2023 season was a tough one for the North Nest. While Mr. North and DNF started well, we documented at least five adult and subadult intruders between February 20th and March 20th. They followed Mr. North to the nest, perched in nearby trees, flew by the nest, attempted to steal food, and generally disturbed nesting activities. On February 23 – the day that DNF would normally have laid her second egg – she spent much of the day chasing

April 19, 2023: Decorah Eagles Family Portrait

August 6, 2023: Cam Shutdown Announcement

What a season 2023 was! We cheered HM, HD, and DH2; celebrated and mourned at Great Spirit Bluff; crossed our fingers for the Decorah North eagles (if one eagle could have incubated an egg all by himself, Mr. North would have done it); and were enthralled by the beautiful birds, turtles, flowers, frogs, and sunrises and sunsets on the Flyway. But the end of the summer is almost here and we need to take our usual fall break for cam

May 8, 2023: HM's new slippers! HD2 is huddling beneath her on a rainy, wet morning in Decorah.

May 8, 2023: What are we looking forward to this week?

What are we looking forward to this week? We’ve got hatch at Great Spirit Bluff, nestling falcons at Alma, Great River Energy, and the Dubuque Courthouse, and some projected big nights on the Mississippi Flyway. Let’s break it down! Great Spirit Bluff Hatch has started at Great Spirit Bluff! Falcons normally begin full incubation after they lay their penultimate egg and it generally takes about thirty-three days from the onset of full incubation to the beginning of hatch. Savanna laid

May 1, 2023: DH2's fish pillow - a tasty white sucker.

May 2, 2023: NestFlix and News from Decorah and Decorah North!

We have your nestflix! In Decorah, DH2 explores self-feeding and shows us its tiny popping pinfeathers, HD makes a difficult fish delivery, and HM starts a rousing game of limbo with the very wonky stick. DH2 is getting big and it’s time to raise the crib rails! At Decorah North, we see some really interesting grackle behavior. Even if you don’t watch the whole video, I absolutely recommend checking out the song spread – it made me think of courting

>> More News
Nest Records
Turkey Vulture 2023 Nest Records

Egg Laying
In 2022, the vultures laid egg #1 on April 23 @ 4:45 AM
Egg Hatching
In 2022, the first egg hatched on May 30 @ 12:45 AM

Fledging
In 2022, both vulturettes fledged on August 8.

Vultures and Outcomes >> Detailed Annual Information

Year Nest  Chicks Known Outcomes
2022 Marshall Turkey Vultures MOTV3, MOTV4 The vultures laid two eggs and produced two chicks.
2021 Marshall Turkey Vultures MOTV1, MOTV2 The vultures laid two eggs and produced two chicks.
Missouri Turkey Vulture Video Library

Missouri Turkey Vulture Video Library

Click the hamburger icon on the top right of the video below to watch this year’s videos, or view our full Missouri Turkey Vulture library on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/RaptorResourceProject.