Thread: buzzards

Don't believe I've seen that large a flock of vultures. Guess it could happen but the norm that I see is more like 20-30 birds.

BTW: What you probably saw were turkey vultures.

Turkey Vulture

Very common in most of Texas. We also have black vultures but I don't see as many of them. Also, "vulture" is the correct term. According to one of my bird books, the word "buzzard" came from Europe where it applied to the buteo hawk there. People new to this country noted that the two birds looked similar and applied the name "buzzard". It just stuck and can be used interchangably.

Hope this helps and happy camping!

We've seen large flocks of Black/American Vultures at Garner SP. These were roosting in the cypress across from the rock beach at old Garner. There was another large group in the cypress near the dam in new Garner. They spent some time in the trees near the site we had. They made the old folks across from us pretty nervous.

The black vultures have a black head. When they fly, there is a patch of white on the underside of their wingtips that covers half the wing. We most often see Black vultures here in San Antonio and the Hill Country. I don't know which would be more common in east Texas. When black or turkey vultures fly, they can glide more easily/longer than most larger birds and their wings are very horizontal. Hawks have to flap more and when they glide/soar, their body makes more of a "v" shape.

"Is there any special reason this many may have come together at one time?"

Maybe they are looking for love. :love:

My guess is they were congregating to enjoy the thermals and/or other wind currents that were no doubt starting to peak as our cold front started to move in/pass through?

I've seen large kettles of hawks and vultures, sometimes even mixed flocks, soaring in wind currents. Heck, we've had to dodge vultures when flying at 3,000 feet in a Cessna, before, so they can and do like to enjoy the airspace... sometimes in good numbers, though what you saw was definitely on the rare side -- especially if it was entirely or predominantly vultures, not hawks.

Awesome! Thanks for sharing the experience!