Buzzards in NJ (no pics)

[hairy_moth]

I have lived in NJ for 20 years, and eastern PA for almost 30 year prior to that. I have never seen a Buzzard around here.. Until last week when I saw 3 sitting on the side of I-78 picking apart a carcass.

I am pretty sure it was a Turkey Vulture


Then yesterday a neighbor (who lived in our town her whole life) said to me: "You'll never guess what I just saw down the block." You guessed it -- another buzzard. (First time for her too)

I had never seen a wild turkey in this area until about 8 years ago, now they are common. When I was a child, Ring-necked Pheasants were common in PA; I haven't seed one of those in at least 25 years.

[canonloader]

I think everyone knows what happened to the Eagles during the decades after WW2 when DDT was used so heavily. Eagles are now making a very strong comeback and we see them every day on the river.

Very few people ever put 2 and 2 together though. All the other birds that lived on the land were also suseptible to the poison and died out just as the eagles did. They are coming back now, in the numbers they use to have, so we see them again.

[davebreal]

Overall North American populations have increased over the last few decades and the breeding range has expanded northward.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/T...re/lifehistory

Black Vultures have also become more common in New Jersey.

[canonloader]

We have a group of Turkey Vultures that spend the summer here, and I suppose they nest here, although I have not found a rookery. They live near here and can be seen circling a pointed hill nearby during the day. Maybe that is the rookery.