Question for Birders

What are the big black birds that circle round and round over the lake? They don’t look like their hunting anything.

Black Vultures.

Yep, lock up your Chihuahuas.......

Most of the large black birds are indeed Black Vultures but look carefully, some of the birds have a longer tail and narrower wings, they are Turkey Vultures.

Turkey vultures look almost like turkeys with a red head. They are relatively harmless. These black vultures will kill, I have had them kill baby calves. They can smell the blood when a calf is first born and two or three may attack and kill. Small dogs and cats are at risk to them.

Sometimes, when they have a good hatch of young ones ( like this year), the older buzzards are teaching them to safely fly in formation. They come quite close to the ground, even sometimes landing in trees, in Chapala Haciendas and Brisas, where there is almost always a breeze from the Lake. They come here to die too.
In India the Parsi religion place their dead on a special open platform and the vultures take them to their heavenly reward. Unfortunately, the widespread use of Dicoflonec for Veterinary and Human use, which they are very sensitive to, has almost wiped them out.