Why Vultures Lurk Along Dark Roads Near You

Oct. 29, 2021 -- If you deliberation you spot a vulture erstwhile you’re retired trick-or-treating, it mightiness not beryllium your imagination. Vultures often take roadside locations implicit much isolated earthy habitats erstwhile they settee down to remainder for the night, according to a GPS investigation of their movements published successful Scientific Reports.

This uncommon prime of resting spot whitethorn explicate wherefore U.S. achromatic vulture and turkey vulture populations person surged successful the past fractional period oregon so, erstwhile galore different vertebrate taxon person declined dramatically with encroaching suburban sprawl. Vultures, arsenic unattractive arsenic they mightiness be, are important to ecosystems, and to us, due to the fact that they devour dormant things, recycling nutrients and tamping down disease. In different words, suburban streets whitethorn beryllium serving up a smorgasbord.

Scientists person agelong suspected that these animals mightiness accommodate amended to human-made landscapes than different birds. To spot whether vultures truly bash thrive successful habitats reshaped by quality activity, a squad of researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture examined astir 8,000 nights of GPS outer tracking information for 11 achromatic vultures and 7 turkey vultures on the seashore of South Carolina.

Most often, they found, the birds roosted adjacent streets. They tended to cull engaged metropolis byways oregon dusty backroads and alternatively preferred a mediate road, similar the streets that typically tally done suburban areas, surrounded by a premix of earthy landscapes and human-made structures.

Although the survey wasn’t designed to find wherefore vultures mightiness similar roadside resting spots, scientists fishy that these locations springiness them a boost erstwhile these ample birds request to get moving. The warmer aboveground of asphalt and factual whitethorn make thermal currents that assistance them.

Easy entree to nutrient whitethorn beryllium different roadside attraction for vultures, arsenic roadkill makes for a bully meal, the researchers note.