Is this a Turkey on my liner!!???

[Rhone]

Speaking of Thanksgiving I thought my wife was joking when she said we have a turkey on the top of our liner. I burst out laughing until I saw this. I've seen wild turkeys occasionally walking through the woods but never one up above and this thing is bigger than any wild turkey I've seen. Do turkeys fly? And yes, this is my liner and that is one monstrous bird! My rain cap I think is bigger than a hub cap, and this is bigger than that. Elkimmeg has been telling me my liner is sticking too far out the top of my chimney. Maybe I should've taken a hint, this thing looks to be using it as a perch to find deer and people to swoop on. It doesn't have the gobble red thing hanging off the neck, and I don't think turkeys can fly. It was a very clumsy flyer, as I scared it off it couldn't get height very fast and ended up being too low for some branches and plowed through them.

 

[Mo Heat]

That's a tough angle, but judging from the beak I'd guess it is a Turkey Buzzard. Your description of its flight sounds like a real Turkey. They're heavy and have a hard time getting up a head of steam to fly. It might be a Turkey Buzzard that is injured and having trouble flying.

Or I guess it could be some sort of 'sign' that your chimney itself is a turkey.

 

[Rhone]

Interesting, I did some lookups about vultures/buzzards.

Definetely a turkey vulture, vultures are new to this area (I haven't seen em). There weren't any natural vultures to be found in the North East until the Turkey Vulture had migrated to CT in the 30's, had migrated to NH by the 70's, and could be seen in Maine in the 80's. The other is the Black Vulture, which migrated in MA in 1999 and CT in 2002. I don't think it's a black as I don't see any reference to it as far north as me plus it's black, turkey vultures are brown. Turkey vultures also have a ring around their eyes formed by some meat bacteria.

They only eat dead animals, so no fear of any of my two cats getting swooped on. If a black & turkey vulture meet a carcass the turkey vulture gives way to the black. They love eggs, and the come back of the Blue Heron may be the reason turkey vultures have migrated North East. Their feet can't hold meat but rather designed to brace the bird as they pull apart carcasses.

 

[BrotherBart]

Yep, it's a turkey buzzard. We have a bunch of them here in Virginia. On Thanskgiving I tossed the turkey carcass out by the edge of the woods behind the house. The next morning the entire back yard was covered with the buzzards. Wall to wall. After that they moved in. Dozens of them roosted in the trees right behind the house every night for around six months.

Ever hear of "buzzard luck"? Ya can't kill anything and nothing's dieing.

 

[DavidV]

Stumbled on this post....you are incorrect. They will kill small animals as well as eat the dead and dieing. if you have lots of them, you could easily loose a cat or small dog. They encircle the animal on the ground, spread their wings wide and move in. it's a terrible sight to see. They are also a protected species, so you are not supposed to chase them off or harrass them when they start roosting nearby. Beating on a pan with a wooden spoon, etc. seems to make them relocate...So does shooting marbles at them from a wrist rocket.....so I have heard. And by the way. wild turkeys can definately fly.

 

[wg_bent]

Quick...Light the stove

 

[wingnut]

Yes it does look like a turkey vulture to me. We get them in are area all the time especially in the spring.. What they do is ride the thermal air maybe that's what he was trying to do off your liner.. Probably just a little confused. They can fly all over the place without even flapping their wings by using warm air thermals.. I have seen wild turkeys fly up into tree tops to roost just before dark and they can jump up and fly just fine from a standing start.