Re: more vulture stuff

[dam.warren@juno.com (David A McClintock)]

 Dear Berislav,
    Thanks for your comments. The bearded vulture once was common in 
 Eurasia to the Himalayas and parts of northern Africa. Been exterminated
or
 reduced in much of its range. There may be several races or subspecies. 
     
Received two messages calling it the Egyptian vulture and saying that the
 person killed was Sophocles. 
    The dropping of bones to break them was apparently noted by the
ancients. Also that in the Atlas range the tortoise was their main prey.
It
seems to me that you would need a heavy population of tortoises to
support 
these big birds. (By the way i didn't mean to sound ignorant -- i do know
the
difference between turtles and tortoises.)                               
                          Their tool using proclivities are new to me.
Such behavior is rather rare
among birds.
     Exciting idea of egg thieving dinos also making use of 'tools'. But
if modern birds do it  may not be that farfetched, if unprovable,
concept.
     Around here (Ohio) the turkey vulture is extremely common. Driving
40
miles you might see 6 to 12 overhead and occasionally four or five       
         
indicating a choice carcass such as a dead cow or deer.
     Long, long ago my uncle went with a kid from the next farm who
wanted 
a pet turkey vulture chick (!!). Up the tree he shimmied only to be met
by
a parent vulture. Now turkey vultures have an interesting way of
defending
the nest. The kid ended up being covered with regurgitated chick food, or
buzzard barf. Must have traumatized the little jerk for life. My uncle
said he
really stank.
     I can just picture an irate pterosaur parent giving the same
treatment to one of our ancient mammalian kin trying to sneak up on its
nest.
                                                                   Dave
Mcc 

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