Turkey Vultures and Killdeer

Yesterday, I saw four red-tailed hawks all flying together, which was a little strange.  Usually there aren't more than two hawks together unless they are young siblings.  I suppose they could have been a family group, but it was still a little odd, especially for this time of year.

At school today, I saw a turkey vulture flying over.  Turkey vultures are found all year round in the southeastern and southwestern areas of the United States and Mexico.  In the rest of the United States up to southern Canada, they are only found in the summer.  I believe they winter in southern Mexico or farther south.  They can be found in different habitats but are particularly common in open areas.  They are often found alone or in small groups, but occasionally they can be found soaring in groups of over a hundred.  They eat only animals that have already died; they do not kill animals.  They are very large and dark with long wings and naked red head.  Young ones have gray heads, though, and can be confused with black vultures.  Turkey vultures, however, are a little bigger than black vultures and have much longer wings.  Below is a photo of a turkey vulture on a telephone pole in front of my house.

Turkey Vulture

At school, I've also occasionally seen killdeer on the grass patches throughout the school (early, when hardly anyone is there).  Killdeer are common plovers found on almost any open ground, from fields to small dirt lots.  They are found all year round in the southern United States and Mexico, in the summer in the north, and in the winter in far southern Florida and Mexico.  They have a white belly, brown back, reddish tail, and two black bands on their chest.  They are often found in groups.  When flying, they can sometimes be mistaken for doves, but their wings are more slender and they are often making a lot of noise, including crying "kill deer!"  They are one of those birds that lay their eggs completely exposed on the open ground.  However, they often do "acts" to either scare or lead the danger away.  For example, they might fly up into the face of a cow to scare it away, or pretend to have a broken wing to lead a predator away.  However, their nests are still pretty vulnerable, so during nesting season, tread carefully in fields.  Below is a photo of one at the San Elijo Lagoon in Encinitas.

Killdeer