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lay eggs
3K views 13 replies 11 participants last post by  Jodi 
#1 ·
Our Vultures!!

Last year we had a pair of Black Vultures lay 2 eggs in one of the sheds on our land. We named the mom Gertrude (Gertie for short) and the dad Mortimer (Mortie for short) and the baby they had was Henrietta. We've been seeing them (just mom and dad) fly around near the shed for the last couple of weeks.

We had been hoping they would be back again and on Friday we discovered the egg! We checked last week and there wasn't an egg so we know she laid the egg sometime in the last week. Incubation period is 37-41 days (differs slightly on different websites). We will be counting down the days until the egg hatches. Until then, we cannot go down to the shed very often... Gertie is not *attached* to the egg and we don't want her to abandon the nest site. I will go once a week to check on everything.

Last year, only one of the two eggs hatched. The other was eaten by a predator (after talking with Bob today, we think it was a opossum). There are threads in this section of all the pics from last year's baby. I'm SO excited!! I just hope the egg makes it! Keep your fingers crossed!

Oh and Bob also told us that BV's can lay an egg approx every other day, so there's still a chance that she may lay one or more eggs. :xfingers:

Here is a picture of Gertie - sorry it's so shaky but I was on a 28x zoom without a tripod!



Here is the egg. It's a little blurry but I will bring my tripod next week when I go to check.



The shed is located in the woods, near a field. The shed hasn't been used in years (it used to be a drying shed when this place was a tobacco farm, about 20-25 years ago) The shed is in great shape and from what I've read and heard, is a perfect nesting spot for vultures. We keep the doors closed... Gertie gets in through the top area where I've drawn the arrow.



Here is Gertie up in a tree watching us and waiting for us to leave



This is not the picture that I hoped to capture. I didn't have time to zoom but I snapped it anyway. Up close, her wingspan is incredible! And the sound her wings make as she flies away... swoop, swoop, swoop, swoop.



I'M SOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!! :hyper:
And a darn good thing I have someone experienced (Bob) to turn to with all my questions. Poor guy, I hardly gave him a chance to answer today before I asked another one. :lol:
 
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#7 ·
Ohhhh that is too cool, Jodi!!!!! I hope the egg(s)hatches! :xfingers:
Not that this is the same thing, lol, but at my parent's house every spring a mama duck would come lay eggs next to our garage, in a little bushy area, under the hose actually! LOL! I guess they liked that spot although I thought it would be too close to the garage and be loud, but they came a few years in a row. I would peek at the eggs every day (not too close ofcourse lol) when she went off, and it seemed there was another one every few days. My brother and I would go out and feed her every day. One time there was like 10 little ducklings, sooo adorable! :heart: We would feed all the ducks and they would come by every day to see us after that! :lol: The little duckies got big so fast!!!
 
#13 ·
I took pictures of vultures dining in the middle of my street one day. The were having "possom on the half shell" or, if you prefer, armadillo. Of course I kept walking closer and closer to them and I'm not sure who gave in first. The smell was so gross!!! But they did do a good job of cleaning it up!

I think most birds lay on the every-other-day schedule. When I worked at the aviary with all sorts of parrots they did that, and I know my Mom's cockatiel does. Be interesting to see how many you end up with. I have seen nests full of 'tiels (full meaning 4 or 5) with the first hatched looking almost as big as Momma and the last hatched just so tiny.

I'll be out of order for the next couple of days - having some tests run at the hospital tomorrow which is why I am up at 3:15 a.m. - but I'll check back and see what happens.

Critter
 
#14 ·
Jackie, that is SO neat! I have another friend that had the same thing happen. She said they were fairly tame.

Dena, we've been wondering about the owls too. The pics I took last year were in May so they should be nesting right now. I'm going to ask one of my experienced friends if he thinks they'll come back this year. That was one of the most incredible experiences. Every once in a while I look at the pictures and remember how neat that was.

Ninja - it takes approx 3 months before they leave the nest. You'll really enjoy the pictures, it was quite fun watching the baby grow up last year.

Keep your fingers crossed ya'll. About a month until the baby hatches!!
 
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