Usually, vultures feed on animals that are already dead. But black vultures can be different. Author: Sarah Jones Updated: 8:20 PM EDT May 4, 2021
MILTON, Indiana Vultures primarily feed on dead animals. In his 57 years as a farmer, Rollin Bach said he had never heard of a vulture killing anything.
But Black Vultures are different. Black vultures, from time to time, they will get aggressive and will take livestock, usually newborn animals. But we re really trying to understand what is the reality of that. There s a lot of anecdotal evidence, but if we can boil it down to science, this is the true rate it s happening at, we can better maintain the species, said Lee Humberg,
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Black vultures have been harassing and sometimes killing calves, costing Indiana cattle farmers money. Purdue University researchers need farmers’ help to study the problem so they can come up with solutions.
Not to be confused with turkey vultures, black vultures have black heads. More of them have moved into Indiana in recent years but Purdue researchers aren t sure why. They suspect a warming climate and land use changes could be some factors behind the move.
Purdue doctoral student Marian Wahl said vultures are important they clean up animal carcasses and help control diseases like rabies. Though they mostly prefer scavenging, Wahl said black vultures occasionally attack particularly vulnerable animals like newborn calves.
Purdue asks livestock producers for help studying losses due to black vultures Black vultures (seen here) and other vulture species play important ecosystem services by cleaning up animal carcasses, but some black vultures have become predatory and are causing problems for livestock producers. (Photo courtesy of Marian Wahl) Download image
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Vultures play an important role in the ecosystem cleaning up animal carcasses from the landscape. However, although primarily scavengers, some black vultures cause problems for cattle operators in southern Indiana, harassing and even preying on young calves and other livestock.
Historically common in southern states, black vultures have expanded into Indiana during the last few decades due to a warming climate and changes in human land use. Black vultures can be found throughout Indiana, but they are most common in southern counties.