Turkey Vulture Trapping Update | MPG Ranch

Turkey Vulture Trapping Update

January 6, 2020

This update summarizes our summer 2019 trapping season and subsequent movements of vultures outfitted with GPS units.

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

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We take photographs of each vulture to record its eye color and any molt in its flight feathers.

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In addition to the four Turkey Vultures, we captured this young Bald Eagle.

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Chewy was the first vulture to head south from the Bitterroot Valley, just a few days after we captured it.

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The paths of eight of our Turkey Vultures converged near Veracruz, Mexico.

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All ten of the vultures with transmitters survived their fall journeys and are on wintering grounds from northeastern Mexico to Nicaragua.