Turkey Vultures Vultures are large birds of prey closely related to hawks and eagles. They are divided into New World vultures and Old World vultures, both belonging to the order Falconiformes. The New World vultures, in the family Cathartidae, consist of seven species in five genera. Among the New World vultures include the Cathartes aura, also known as the Turkey Vulture. Scientists say that turkey vultures are shy, inoffensive birds. Some researchers have discovered that the bird is very helpful to the environment. Its habit of cleaning up decaying and diseased carcasses makes it a sanitary engineer par excellence, while its keen sense of smell has been pressed into service to find wasteful and dangerous gas leaks. And the vulture’s unique knack for conserving energy has intrigued scientists for years. Although the turkey vulture has a large, turkeylike body and sporty red head, it is not even distantly related to the turkey. Instead, turkey vultures- along with their cousins in the United States, the black vulture of the South and East, and the nearly extinct California condor-belong to a group of raptors called New World vultures. Chromosome analysis shows that the New World vultures are actually more closely related to storks than to the vultures of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Turkey vultures are remarkably successful birds. They range everywhere from parts of Canada and much of the United States to South America. At home in deserts, prairies and woodlands, they have even settled close to people in a number of urban and suburban areas. Observed in flight, the turkey vulture appears black with the underside of its wings grayish or silvery, giving the birds a two-toned appearance. They characteristically hold their wings in a slight V, or dihedral, thus aiding identification. On rare occasions, they hold their wings flat and eagle-like which, if seen at a great distance, may cause the birds to resemble eagles. In flight, the turkey vulture holds it’s naked head, crimson-red as adults and grayish-black as immatures, downward in contrast to eagles, which hold their heads forward. The tail of the turkey vulture extends far beyond the rear edge of its wings. They typically rock or tilt from side to side while gliding or soaring on updrafts or circling overhead. Their occasional wingbeats are powerful and labored. Turkey vultures are large birds with wingspreads of about six feet. Their wings are long, moderatly wide, and have strongly slotted tips. Typically, the wings are held slightly above a horizontal plane when the bird is aloft. This forms a characteristic dihedral which is very useful in making correct field identification. Although turkey vultures use thermals, they are more
John Updike’s poem “The Great Scarf of Birds” expresses the varying emotions the narrator experiences as he witnesses certain events from nature. His narration of the birds throughout the poem acts as numerous forms of imagery and symbolism concerning him and his life, and this becomes a recollection of the varying emotional stances he comes to terms with that he has experienced in his life. These changes are so gradually and powerfully expressed because of a fluent use of diction and figurative language, specifically symbolism and simile, and aided by organization.
Flying Tigers is the name of a mercenary group of American pilots that helped defend China and the Burma Road from the bombing of the Japanese during World War II. The name of their planes was Tomahawks, but the Chinese called them Fei Hu for the sharks teeth painted on their planes. Flying Tigers were known as the American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force. The Flying Tigers did not see combat until December 1941 when the Japanese started bombing China.
In this world, everyone has an equal right; however, many people are getting falsely accused of acts they did not commit even though they are innocent. Mockingbirds, one of the most innocent birds, sing their heart out for people to enjoy, however, they getting killed every day. In this novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, there are many racial prejudices going on. Finches stand near the top of the social hierarchy, with Cunningham and Ewells underneath. Black community in Maycomb is even below the Ewells, even if they were a hard worker; they were not treated equally. The “mockingbirds” represents the idea of innocence, so killing a mockingbird is to destroy innocence. Throughout the book, many characters are considered a mockingbird. Three examples are Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, and Mr. Dolphus Raymond. Those three characters are innocent; they are kind and were never harmful to others. However, they were destroyed through contact of evil. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the mockingbirds symbolizes the idea of innocence, and Tom, Boo, and Mr. Raymond are considered one of it.
Blessing and Vultures In the poems ‘Blessing’ and ‘Vultures’, the poets both use vivid descriptive language to create pictures and moods. In ‘Blessing’, the poet begins the second stanza with the word ‘imagine’. This word involves the reader and tells them to create a mental picture of the scene.
In 1986, it was realized that drastic measures would be needed if humans were going to save the California condor form extinction. With only three males remaining in the wild and 22 others left in captivity, an aggressive approach was necessary to save these majestic birds.
The Turkish Republic was established in 1923, after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The Empire had been slowly declining for several centeries, this can be attributed to its inablity to keep up scientificaly and the socail and political wars. Finally the Lausanne Peacem Treaty of July 24, 1923 established the international status and boundaries of the new country. The Republic of Turkey was formally declared on October 29, 1923. It immediatly started on a course of modernization in all walks of life. Turkey would base its political and legal sytems on the modern secular models as well as strengthening its political relations with the West to reach its goals as a new republic. The goals as expressed by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the leader of the nationalist movement and first president of the Turkish Republic, were "to reach the level of contemporary civilization". To achieve these goals, a doctirne for foreign relations was created; as Atarurk said, "Peace at home, Peace in the world."
You may see them one with another, like birds swift on the wing, (ll 199-201)
A very general description of thunderbird is represented by an eagle but in deeper physical details is that it is an enormous bird with horns that induces lighting by flashes of its eyes and thunder by flapping its huge wings. It has a sharp beak with teeth and claws for catching serpents and whales. There is no familiar bird species that has horns and produces lightning. The Thunderbird is a category along with supernatural beings that does not exists. It can only be seen in movies or games.
American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) are a species of bird found in the family Corvidae, a family that also includes magpies, nutcrackers, and jays (Eastman, 1997). According to Eastman’s book Birds of Forest, Yard, and Thicket, there are around forty-two Corvus species, and most of them live in the Northern Hemisphere (1997). American Crows in the United States usually do not migrate, but they do migrate to Canada. Not all American Crows migrate, but they are social birds who form wintertime flocks that sometimes reach over 200,000 birds (Burton et al., 2010). American Crows have a number of features that make them identifiable, and to help keep them from being confused with another member of the Corvus genus, the Common Raven (Marzluff et al., 2013).
once trained by kings to hunt and bring back kills. This sport, called Falconry, is still
... the reader understand the meaning that is behind it, like so “the poem concludes by asking rhetorically whether its listeners now understand the truths produced by both birds and poetry” (SparkNotes Editors). Besides nature being compared from birds a deeper meaning is behind this symbol and this is “art produces soothing, truthful sounds” (SparkNotes Editors) just like the soothing sounds from a bird that anyone can enjoy.
Porcupines African Crested Porcupines Order: rodent. A porcupine's habitat and range: forests, deserts, and grasslands of North and South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. Porcupines can weigh from 2 to 60 pounds depending on the species. A prickly coat of needle-sharp quills is the porcupine's best defense. Ordinarily the quills lay flat. But if an enemy approaches the porcupine will raise the quills and spread them, usually deterring the enemy. If the animal is not deterred the quills may lodge in the enemy's flesh when the porcupine brushes against the animal. New quills grow in to relace the lost ones. The porcupine cannot throw its quills. There are two groups of porcupines. They differ in habits and appearance. The porcupines of the Americas also climb trees. Some have been seen using their tails to hold on to branches. In the winter the North American porcupine eats evergreen needles and bark. When spring arrives they feed on leaves, buds, stems, and fruit. Depending on the species, the gestation period is from 2 to 7 months, bearing 1 to 4 young. The life span of captive porcupines can be as much as 20 years. The Future of the Porcupine They are nearsighted, have a deep red shine to their eyes, and four toes on each front foot and five toes on each hind foot. Porkies are the second-largest rodent in Wisconsin after the North American beaver. They can weigh 30 pounds or more in summer but their weight drops dramatically during the lean months of winter. Porcupines live in the northern two-thirds of the state in a territory that extends in a V-shape from about the Ellsworth area in Pierce County down to Wisconsin Dells and back up toward Green Bay. Porcupines, like most rodents, are vegetarians. Their winter diet consists of conifer needles, buds and the bark of pines, hemlock, maples and birch. How these critters survive on foods with a protein content of only two to three percent is truly amazing. Porcupines are sloppy eaters who drop a lot of greenery that provides a welcome snack for white-tailed deer during deep snows. If you spot a small pile of freshly-snipped branches on a winter walk, it's likely porcupines are nearby. Their winter dens are easy to find -- just follow your eyes and nose. Porcupines winter in caves and hollow logs. They travel the same paths every day.
First, the Eagle has certain traits about it that makes it such a unique and majestic bird. The bird’s Latin name is the Haliaeetus Leucocephalus which translates to “Sea Eagle with a white head” (Bald). As far as the bird goes, it has a life span of about 30 years living at the top of the food chain. An Eagle has a few weapons for hunting that make them a dangerous predator. Those weapons include the beak and talons which are both made from the substance human fingernails are made of; Keratin. The beak has a hook at the tip which is used for tearing, which creates a “scissor effect”. The talons are a powerful weapon, yet they are delicate enough to groom and feed their young. Talons are also used to kill the Eagle’s prey by penetrating its fle...
Thousands of different types of birds roam the Earth as we know it today, so let’s begin consider the origin of these beings. How had these creatures come to be? What was their original form? The evolution of birds has only recently begun to explode with new information within the last decade (Savile, 1957, p. 212). Birds are unique creatures and inhabit a wide variety of locations, but constant among them is the fact that they came from Archaeopteryx. Over time, three key changes have developed with the bird’s anatomy that makes it a paradigm of evolution.