Flexible Soaring Style Helps Vultures Stay Aloft While Hunting for Carrion

Vultures are bad at flapping their wings, but they manage to spend long periods of time in the air. Now, scientists have found how vultures use small-scale turbulence to stay aloft even when weather conditions don't favor the formation of thermals.

In this latest study, the researchers examined vulture behavior at thirteen sites in southeastern Virginia in 2013 and 2014. They found that both Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) and Black Vultures (Coragyps atratus) used contorted soaring primarily when the weather was cool and cloudy, conditions not optimal for the development of thermals, and when flying less than fifty meters above the ground.

So what was happening? The researchers believe that the vultures were making use of small-scale turbulence that forms when horizontal air currents hit the edge of a forest or similar barrier, producing a small area of uplift at the tree line.

Using this sort of small-scale turbulence in addition to other sources of updrafts appears to increase the amount of time vultures can spend on the wing, searching for food. Turkey vultures may especially benefit from low-altitude contorted soaring; they use a sense of smell to find carrion in forests and by flying at the edge of trees, they have a better chance to find food.

"We now know soaring flight is more complex than previously thought and merits more study," said Julie Mallon, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Although observational studies are less and less common in the ornithological literature, it is very satisfying that we were able to add this basic knowledge with such a simple approach."

The findings are published in the journal The Auk.

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