What kind of birds are these?

[DaveTN]

I couldn’t get picture of the group because of the trees and how spread out there are, but the suckers are huge. On several occasions there has been a group of about 20 or more flying around. Its eerie, they don’t make any noise, just cruise around. We have some big azz crows n the area, but they make a bunch of noise. Is this some kind of hawk? It has to be at least a three foot wingspan.

 

 

 

 

 

[Garufa]

Buzzards (Turkey Vultures) is my guess.

[runco]

Haven't you heard Baltimore is going bankrupt, and the ravens are fleeing!  They are being quiet trying to find a new home.

[zapfbroad]

plumage resembles a cooper hawk but not the behavior. i don't think you'd see that quantity of hawks except in fall migrations.

most likely a wake of turkey vultures, there may have been carrion nearby or they could be getting ready to start courtship, they breed around march/april here i think.

you'd be a bit conservative in the wingspan estimate but considering their height that's to be expected, they lack a syrinx & don't really produce noises except grunts. 

 

 

[zapfbroad]

well, technically a 'kettle of vultures' as they were in flight, a 'wake of vultures' is when they're actually aground & eating

[Hotrod]

Buzzards (Turkey Vultures) is my guess.

Yep... :up:

[DaveS]

Yep... :up:

What he said!

 

Dave

[Dolomite_supafly]

We have had some clusters of red tailed hawks as of late. They are mating right now and there is a single male that seems to be fending of about a 1/2 dozen or so would be suiters.

 

Dolomite

[pcrc11]

You can always tell Turkey Buzzards by looking at the wing tips, they will look like fingers spread apart where hawks will look like fingers with no spacing between. Also a Buzzard will circle and circle and very rarely if ever flap its wings.

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

I would say if they are circling above your head.. maybe they know something you do not ? lol

Edited February 10, 2013 by Sour Kraut

[mikegideon]

I would say if they are circling above your head.. maybe they know something you do not ? lol

 

Beer and chili. He only smells like he's dying :)

[pcrc11]

I was hunting this year and dropped my sandwich from my tree stand. It was a ham sandwich and landed in such way that the meat was laying out exposed. Within 5 minutes I noticed circuling shadows on the ground around my tree. I looked up and had 5-6 buzzards about 50 ft above my tree just circling. When I looked up and made a little movement they flew off. I was amazed they had honed in on the meat so quickly. They are fascinating birds and if you ever get a chance to see any kind of nature tv show about them you need to watch it and see what they are capable of and how they behave and interact as a group.

[superduty]

Two kinds of vultures that are common around here- turkey vultures and black vultures.

 

Turkey vultures have a red head/face, and black ones have black or grayish head.

 

Turkey vultures are often more aggressive, and ones that I see around here are usually larger than black vultures.

[Mike.357]

turkey buzzards.  They were awful where we lived in South Florida.  They would peck out the rubber molding on car windows and tear up screened in porches for the rubber that held the screens in place.  There main line of defense was puking at whatever bothered them.  of course they were a protected species too, you could not kill them.