NEWPORT, Ore. (AP) — The sun parts the clouds over the Oregon Coast Aquarium and the newest resident here lifts her red bald head, turns her back, and spreads wide her wings to bask.
"See," says CJ McCarty aquarium curator of birds, "Their feathers are iridescent. You can see the colors shining in the sun. Not black, but brown, tan, purples and greens. They are actually quite beautiful."
"Beautiful" is not typically the first word that comes to mind when talking about turkey vultures. But McCarty is serious. Not only does she find the large birds attractive, but also intelligent, curious and no kidding incredibly clean.
If ever there was a bird in need of a good marketing campaign, the turkey vulture is it. Oft maligned as nasty harbingers of doom, this poor bird is the poster child of the misunderstand, the avian equivalent of Rodney Dangerfield, the grim reaper of the feathered world.
But that may be about to change, at least here on the coast.
Last week, McCarty made the journey to Wisconsin to escort to two 18-month-old turkey vultures to the aquarium, where they will soon be part of a permanent exhibit that will open to the public when else? on Halloween.
The birds, a male and a female, were removed from their nest as chicks by a teen in Antigo, Wis., then discovered by his parents and turned over to the state. Because birds are highly imprinted by the first people they see, they likely would not have done well in the wild, so word went out in search of a new home and the Oregon Coast Aquarium stepped up.
"The most important reason why they have come here is so people can appreciate how clean they are and the role they play in our ecosystem," says McCarty. "There is this myth that they are dark, just waiting for things to die, that they are ugly and dirty."
The facts are far less gruesome.
The birds don't kill their meals, but wait for things to die. They can eat almost anything dead or decaying without getting sick except poison and animals with lead from bullets making them the ultimate recycler.
They spend huge amounts of time grooming and preening. They urinate on their legs to sterilize bacteria and also to cool, spread their wings for the warmth of the sun, and also to allow the heat can bake off any bacteria, says to McCarty.
Both genders are involved in parenting their young; they are cousins to the condor; and they are very family oriented, living together and sharing roosts.
"These birds in the wild are social. In captivity, it's apparent they are very inquisitive and gregarious. They have a lot of personality," McCarty says.
And then she scratches a spot on the male's chest. He nuzzles her hand with a white tipped beak, and when McCarty murmurs reassuringly, he lifts his red face, tilts his head and listens.
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