Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Vinnie the Vulture


Who YOU looking at?

This handsome turkey vulture is brought to you courtesy of the famed photographer George Willis, whose incredible photos can be seen here -

Ever wonder why the vulture has a bald head? Meet the skinheads of the bird world. As you might know, vultures are carrion eaters - never killing their own food, but instead scavenging for dead animals on which to dine. Because they must at times insert their entire heads into the carcasses on which they feed, the residue that sticks to their head gets pretty foul. With no way to clean themselves, feathers on the head would be a very big nuisance indeed. So, they are stuck with that lovely leathery skin head. Their character is actually very shy, and they are meek, sensitive birds, very much misunderstood. Often associated with death, this is only because of their diet... some things can't be helped.

15 comments:

Autumn Storm said...

Oh my! What absolutely fabulous photography - I had a quick look for now (heading to bed), need to go back and take it all in at leisure. They range between excellent and breathtaking!

Terry, just recently I was absolutely hooked on the most visually delightful documentary I have ever seen. It's a series by the BBC called Planet Earth. I found a website that I wanted to post the link to, interactive, but unfortunately it only works if one resides in the UK - anyway, for someone such as yourself, you really must watch it, if you ever get a chance. That or I'll send you the DVD box set - I want one too!

Babbling away, tiredness. :-D Have a great evening, hope you catch her, talk to you tomorrow, xoxo

CozyMama said...

vultures are yucky, cept I call them lawyers.....OOOH did I say that outloud....hope there is no offence taken. :)

Autumn Storm said...

:-) I went back up until June on Sister Celtic's blog, and I just had to take a break, I was that wowed by the photography. Stunning doesn't even begin to cover very many of those pictures. This'll teach me to check out people's blogrolls (very bad at doing that), I'm an avid fan already. Thanks, Terry, x

imfredshand said...

Yes! HOw lovely! Vultures are often associated with death arent they.... yet we all eat dead things..

Just they like it a little fresher I guess! They are lovely birds.

javajazz said...

we all eat dead things!
ya, i've been known to
kill my salads before
ingesting them...
all those dead cucumbers
and leaves and stuff...

i must say, i quite like
Vinnies name...makes
him more friendly and
approachable...then
when i get real close?
he can have me for lunch,
or, in my case, maybe
snack.

javajazz said...

unless of course,
he was just interested
in my bum....

javajazz said...

i think i need
just a
bit
more
sleep...

Minka said...

nature´s way, canæt argue with that!

i actually didnæt know why their head was bald, but this was interestign little trivia, which I might use at the next coffee meeting with friends, to appear all smart :)

tsduff said...

Autumn - I've seen Planet Earth many times - that show dates back a long time. I was as enchanted as you - and I don't know if there are brand new episodes or not, but they are all fabulous. David Attenborough used to host it - maybe it is now done by someone else. It is one of the best shows ever broadcast.

Jodes - I understand your sentiment - but putting that kind of label on a beautiful bird just isn't fair. I just ran into a horrible scumbag lawyer today as a matter of fact, and they are too low for labels at all. This one needs to crawl back under puddle of slime which birthed it...

tsduff said...

Autumn, Sister Celtic (Anne) and her hubby George are the most fun folks in the world. They live in a paradise island world, where wildlife abounds. The pictures they find/create/share are breathtaking, and I encourage you to continue checking them out. I always want to take them all for my blog - but of course that wouldn't be proper :-D

Imfredshand: yes, they ARE lovely birds. And, beggars can't be choosers, when it comes to dead food :-) Trivial fact: they can't really smell much, which may be a blessing :-D

tsduff said...

Lisa - LOLOLOL!!! Yes, we all do eat dead things - although some really take it to the extreme one way or the other. I like what is on my dear Miz Bohemia's sidebar at her site:

MEAT: it's what's rotting in your colon"...


Vinnie wouldn't eat you for lunch unless you were lying somewhere (after dying a few hours prior) where the cars wouldn't run over him as he flew down to check you out. They go for organ meat, rather than butts... more nutritious I suppose ;-) In your case I think it would be slim pickens anyway.

Ha ha, Monika my girl, everybody already knows you are one smart peguin :-) ... albeit a tad silly at times.

javajazz said...

jeez, well, if vinnie cant smell very well, how the heck would he know the difference between my dead butt and perhaps my lovely liver? ewww, liverrrrr! i'd know the difference.
this is soooo gross.
ps, not to generalize or put a negative label on the bunch of 'em, but, aren't some lawyers referred to as vultures? ah well, the poor man is just doing his job, and unfortunately using his bright mind for evil instead of good, as he twists the facts to suit his needs...man, i think i have some relatives who would have also made great lawyers, with their twisted, manipulative minds...
sorry, my bad.

javajazz said...

ha! just noticed Jodes' comment
above! well, that confirms it,
then...

:P fuzzbox said...

They do look majestic in flight but they have some gross habits besides eating road kill. They defacate on their feet in order to stay cool. That is just over the top.

tsduff said...

I don't know many lawyers whom I can actually say I like. Sometimes they might be good to use, but personally I'm not good friends with any.

Oh, and Fuzzbox - bravo - another vulture factoid! I'm always glad to meet another vulture-savvy guy :-D Here's another: Don't own a piece of property with a vulture tree - especially if the tree is anywhere near your residence. They congregate all together (they especially prefer eucalyptis trees) at night in the same tree for years upon years, and the gosh-awful goo which splats down on the sidewalk or ground beneath is straight from the bowels of hell (considering what they eat, this is no surprise).