The Turkey Vulture Society is a non-profit scientific corporation. Its purpose is to promote scientific studies of the life habits and needs of the Turkey Vulture, to protect the vulture and its habitat, and to inform the public of the valuable and essential services this bird provides to mankind and to the environment.
ANNUAL TURKEY VULTURE EVENTS
ANNUAL EVENTS:
Makanda, Illinois
Vulture Festival
When: October (The 2005 Vulture Festival will be held on Oct 15th and 16th)
Location: .Makanda, Illinois
Admission: Free
Description:
The Artist's community in the small village of Makanda is blessed every fall with hundreds of black and turkey vultures. Home to Giant City State Park, Makanda has an abundance of large trees and cliffs, appealing to the vulture families. The Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) is extremely beneficial to our ecosystem. Being scavengers, who don't kill their prey, vultures play a vital roll in the food web. Vultures eat carrion (dead flesh), like road kill and dead animals. Because they have such a unique digestive system, they can eat diseased and infected carcasses and there is no trace of bacteria in their droppings. Up close the turkey vulture is certainly one of the most unattractive creatures, but in flight they have the grace and beauty of eagles. Turkey Vultures have lived in the trees and cliffs of Makanda since the last ice age. They rear their young in the cliffs during Summer and return to the trees in the fall. The artists of Makanda in the Valley of the Arts wanted to have a fall festival much like the one they have in the Spring and with the number of vultures flocking to the valley, the theme for Vulture Fest was hatched. What better reason to have a FREE fest.
The Turkey Vulture Society is aware of six annual events in the U.S. whose focus is the Turkey Vulture.
Each of these events is concurrent with a seasonal arrival or migrational passage. Such events are invaluable "Vulture P.R." tools.
Click on the links below to read more about each event, and to visit the event's official website.
Hinckley, Ohio
Buzzard Sunday
When: The first Sunday after March 15 (The 2005 Hinckley Buzzard Sunday is on March 20)
Location: Buzzard Roost is located at the corner of State Road and West Drive in Hinckley Reservation in Hinckley Township.
Contact Phone: 216-635-3200 or 440-526-1012
Admission: Free
Description:
See buzzards (turkey vultures) come home to roost in the rock cliffs and ledges in Hinckley. This annual celebration dates back to 1957 when 9,000 visitors flocked the township to see the return of the buzzards from their winter hiatus. The event includes an early bird hike; skits, songs and stories performed in tents or in fields, displays, crafts, photos, contests and additional hikes. Don't miss this right to spring and learn about the legend that surrounds Buzzard Day and why so many buzzards and people come out in March.
Activities:
Naturalist-led Hikes (including an "Early Bird" hike at 8:30 a.m.)
When: Late September (the 2004 Vulture Festival was held on Sat. & Sun., September 24-25)
Location: Weldon, California
Admission: Free
Contact Email: krpfriends@lightspeed.net
Festival Headquarters: Audubon-California's Kern River Preserve and South Fork School; Weldon, Kern County, California
Description:
The Kern River Valley Turkey Vulture Festival celebrates the height of fall Turkey Vulture migration through California's "Valley Wild", the Kern River Valley. One of the two largest known migration sites in North America (north of Mexico) - Seven-thousand six-hundred sixty-four Turkey Vultures were counted during the 4-day festival in 2004. The 2004 count period from from September 14th through October 14th tallied 23,898 vultures. The magnitude of the migration over this southern Sierra Nevada count site is awe inspiring.
Activities/Attractions:
Booths and Exhibits
Children's Activities
Field trips
Vulture Viewing
Chances to participate in the annual Kern Vulture Count
The festival falls on one of the finest weekends for observing fall land bird migration in California.
Opportunities to observe eastern rarities at nearby desert oases
When: Late February (the 2005 Vulture Venture will be held on Feb. 26. It will run from noon to 6pm)
Location: Branson, Missouri
Admission: Free
Contact Phone: 417-334-4865, ext 0
Festival Headquarters: The Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery in Branson.
Description:
Missouri's most unusual wildlife viewing opportunity is held each February at the Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery in Branson.
Indoor attractions include a live vulture from the Wonders of Wildlife Museum in Springfield, a video about vultures, vulture games and crafts. Outside, visitors will meet naturalists with spotting scopes and view one of Missouri's largest vulture wintering roosts. This is a rare opportunity to see both black and turkey vultures in the same location.
Visitors who stay until late in the afternoon are treated to vulture "kettling" as large numbers of the big birds swoop in to roost for the night.
"Vulture Venture 2004" received the National Association of Interpretation's Best Interpretive Program award.
Activities/Attractions:
Live vulture from the Wonders of Wildlife Museum in Springfield, MO
Vulture video
Vulture games and crafts
Vulture and roost viewing (spotting scopes provided)
Wenonah is a small residential community (1 square mile, pop. 2400) in southern New Jersey, about 12 miles from Philadelphia. About 5 years ago between 100 and 200 Turkey Vultures (and some Black Vultures as well) established a winter roost in their community when their former roosting site was destroyed by development. Unlike some communities in the region, who have complained about the vultures being a nuisance or even a "threat", the people of Wenonah have welcomed the birds. They have become a part of the local culture and are celebrated. The first festival in March 2006 was an outstanding success and tickets sold out in 4 days.
The purpose of the East Coast Vulture Festival is not only to provide an evening of fun and entertainment, but also has a serious educational component. The festival provides the opportunity to educate the public about the true nature of vultures, so that they understand the important role the these birds play in maintaining a healthy environment, that they come to see that vultures and people are compatible and to discover the beauty of these noble creatures that soar with the grace of eagles.
The festival is co-sponsored by the Wenonah Environmental Commission, a volunteer agency of the Wenonah municipal government, and the Gloucester County Nature Club, a non-profit nature organization that has been active since 1949.
When: Late September (The 2007 Festival is on Sept. 22)
Location: The Boyce Thompson Arboretum
Admission: none
Description:
"Bye Bye Buzzards," is a signature event of the Boyce Thompson Arboretum. This is a seasonal salute to the Superior, AZ migrant flock of turkey vultures, before they depart to fly south and spend their winter months in Mexico.
Come celebrate ornithology, and learn more about turkey vultures and the important role they play in the Sonoran desert. Visitors can observe the resident vultures in the morning, and then join a birdwalk guided by Arboretum volunteers and staff. AZ Game and Fish Department wildlife rehab volunteers maintain a live exhibit of birds, reptiles, and small mammals during the day.
