Bert and Wert: We Do the Dirty Work: We Do the Dirty Work How Turkey Vultures Help Keep the Earth Clean

By Midge Ballou Smith

To win a contest, Vultures Bert & Wert live stream how they work to keep the earth clean. Includes facts about turkey vultures.

FUN FACTS ABOUT TURKEY VULTURES

Vultures can safely eat diseased dead animals. Their corrosive stomach acid destroys the bacteria so they don't get sick. Cleaning up carcasses keeps disease from spreading to humans and other animals.

Another reason vultures projectile vomit at predators is to "lighten the load'" so they can take off flying quicker.

Vultures have no voice box, so they can't sing or cackle, but they can hiss or grunt.

A group of vultures is called a committee, volt, or venue. When they're flying, they're called a kettle, and when their feeding they're called, appropriately, a "wake."

When a vulture pees on its legs, it cools them off. But their waste is also very acidic and it destroys much of the bacteria that might have gathered on their legs from standing in or on dead animals.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1950169855
• ISBN13: 9781950169856
• Release Date: August 2023
• Publisher: Spork
• Length: 40 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 8.0" x 10.0"