What in the world are these birds up to?

This shot was taken early in the morning in South Western Colorado, just outside of Ouray.

I was out walking the dog and came upon this group of large birds, I would guess wing spans of around two feet or so, sitting roughly 30' up in a grove of Aspens completely motionless with their wings extended.

At first I didn't think they were real until they started moving. It was a bit unnerving.

Any of you bird people know what these guys were up to? i've never seen anything like it.

They're vultures, and they appear to be sunning. Nice capture

Well, they look like turkey vultures and they're probably trying to regulate their body temperature. I've seen similar behaviour from bald eagles.

Henrik

Those are Turkey Vultures. Based on your size guess, I'd say juveniles; adults can have up to a 7' wingspan. My guess is they are collecting heat to warm themselves for the day.

I've seen buzzards to this in the morning to get warmed up before they take to flight for the day. You came across a great find there. Go back again and they'll maybe be there as they have returned time again to the same roost.

Nice shots, and what a find. Doug's right, they probably use this spot all the time.

Nice shots

Yep you found a roost. They sit like that in the morning waiting for it to get warm enough for the thermals to rise to make it easier to fly. Watch your dog, if he is like mine they love to rub in vulture poop, make's um smell good.

Pauhana wrote in post #10682103
Yep you found a roost. They sit like that in the morning waiting for it to get warm enough for the thermals to rise to make it easier to fly. Watch your dog, if he is like mine they love to rub in vulture poop, make's um smell good.

Sounds even worse than the cow manure my poodle rolled in when we were making an organic garden! Needless to say, he got a bath on the spot.