Animal Summary

Buzz the turkey vulture was injured in the wild and found around Gillett, Wisconsin in 2008. He was donated to the zoo in 2009 after a period of rehabilitation at the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary in Green Bay, Wisconsin. His left wing injury doesn't hold him back from running around the exhibit for his food but does keep him from being released back out into the wild.

Facts

• Turkey vultures use their sense of smell to find carrion. Their heightened ability to detect odors allows them to find dead animals below a forest canopy.
• They maintain stability and lift at low altitudes by holding their wins up in a slight V-shape and teeter from side to side while flying.
• A turkey vulture will defecate on its own legs using the evaporation of the water in the feces to cool itself down.

Conservation

The turkey vultures population is difficult to determine but it seems to be stable in areas or increasing. This is due to their adaptability in diet and nesting sites.

Threats

Turkey vultures are threatened by accidental trapping, collisions with cars, electrocution, shooting and accumulation pesticides and other contaminants.