2020 Turkey Vulture Telemetry Update | MPG Ranch

2020 Turkey Vulture Telemetry Update

December 21, 2020

This update summarizes the second half of this season's trapping efforts and the subsequent movements of Turkey Vultures outfitted with GPS units.

2020-12-15_RVRI_TUVU-1.jpg

In the spring of 2019, we started a new project aiming to capture Turkey Vultures and equip them with GPS transmitters.

2020-12-15_RVRI_TUVU-2.jpg

On August 13, we captured a Turkey Vulture and fitted it with a GPS unit. Just three days later, the unit stopped moving outside of Stevensville, MT.

2020-12-15_RVRI_TUVU-3.jpg

n August 27, we captured this Turkey Vulture that had recently fed on a porcupine.

2020-12-15_RVRI_TUVU-4.jpg

In addition to trapping Turkey Vultures, we attempted to locate the nests of individuals we started tracking in 2019.

2020-12-15_RVRI_TUVU-5.jpg

Two Turkey Vultures, Buddy and Alvin, had summer ranges in 2020 that had zero overlap with the areas they used in 2019.

2020-12-15_RVRI_TUVU-6.jpg

When a Turkey Vulture did show a slight preference for an area, it tended to be on a large cliff face like the one pictured here.

2020-12-15_RVRI_TUVU-7.jpg

As summer came to a close, we had eyes on the tracks of 18 Turkey Vultures.

2020-12-15_RVRI_TUVU-8.jpg

On September 29, Quill’s transmitter stopped moving about 25 miles southeast of Dillon, MT.

2020-12-15_RVRI_TUVU-9.jpg

Two other Turkey Vultures went down or dropped their transmitter during this year’s fall migration.

2020-12-15_RVRI_TUVU-10.jpg

We would like to extend our deepest appreciation for Montana Department of Transportation whose assistance has made this project possible.

Previous Research Update

2020 Fall Raptor Migration and Telemetry Summary

Next Research Update

2020 Osprey Telemetry Project Update