Black Vulture Baby Update

The other week we went and visited the black vulture baby.  His parents and him live in a little old fallen apart house beside our big old fallen down tobacco barn.  We have several old structures on the property is disrepair.  The vultures love these old buildings.  I like having vultures around, as they assist us in cleaning up the property.  I find it absolutely amazing that vultures make no noise except a hiss and a grunt.  The opposite of the guinea fowl.  The guineas and the vultures all get along nicely, too.

Ok, just to recap - this is what the vulture baby looked like one month before ~ he was tiny (about the size of our hand) and off-white and puffy.  Very fragile-looking.

And here he is now!  He's a big boy.  He's almost the size of an adult vulture.  But he certainly looks weird.  He is getting some black feathers in, thank goodness.  He still has that off-white puff all over him.  He doesn't fly yet.  The parents still feed him.

Both parent vultures were with the baby when we visited.  They both flew away from the home, and they were not happy with our intrusion into their home.  One of the parents flew overhead, watching us closely while we visited their son, and the other took off.

In a couple minutes the second vulture was back.

And he brought re-inforcements.  Another pair of vultures came to assist.  I thought it was amazing the one parent took off and got help from another vulture family.  How sweet is that?  We think the other vulture family lives in another old house on our property.  They probably have their babies there. 

To me it is interesting how vultures live in family units, one male and female raises a family.  They seem to be smart, they run to neighbors when help is needed.  The neighbors immediately come to help.  They are quiet, aren't able to yell at would-be attackers.  All they can do is fly around above.  Silent, beautiful birds.

I hope we have many more vulture babies in the upcoming years.