Professional Documents
Culture Documents
February 2002
John S. Humphrey
USDA/APHIS, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center
Eric A. Tillman
USDA/APHIS, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center
Kimberly O. Phares
USDA/APHIS, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center
Jane E. Hatcher
USDA/APHIS, Wildlife Services
Avery, Michael L.; Humphrey, John S.; Tillman, Eric A.; Phares, Kimberly O.; and Hatcher, Jane E., "DISPERSING VULTURE
ROOSTS ON COMMUNICATION TOWERS" (2002). USDA National Wildlife Research Center - Staff Publications. 456.
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/icwdm_usdanwrc/456
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the U.S. Department of Agriculture: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service at
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in USDA National Wildlife Research Center - Staff Publications
by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln.
/. Raptor Rr.7. 36 (l):45-50
0 2002 The Raptor Research Foundation, Inc.
JANE E. HATCHER
U,ST)A/APHIS, Wild/@ S w ~ ~ i r rFlorida
r, State Uireclor's Cl/$cr, 2820 1:'crsl IJnii~ersi/yA-omur,
Gaines~!ille.FI, 32641 U.S.A.
Ans~~c:r.-(:ornnit~nic.atio~i towers provide attmctive roost sites for Black ( Corngyps ( I ~ ~ Y ~ Z C and
J) Turkey
vultnrcs cat hart^.: rrzrrri). The bird5' roosting activity creates problerns, however, for tower operators,
nearby businesses, and adjacent homeowners. To alleviate these problerns, at six sites in northern Florida
we e\aluated the cff'rctiveness of si~spcndingvulture carcasses or taxider~niceffigies from towel-s to
disperse mtlti~reroosts. 111 each caw, vulti~re~litnlbcrsdecl-eased imnlediately after installatio~~ of the
stimulus, ant1 roosLs declined 93-100% within nine days. The effect was independent of the co~nposition
of the roost ancl occurred regardless of which \ri~lt~tre species was ~ i s r das the carcass or effigy. At one
site, the I-oost was substantially reducetl using a con11nr1-cia1plastic goose decoy painted to resernble a
Turkey Vulture. At thrcc sites, the deterrent effect persisted up to 5 rno even aster the carcass or effigy
was removed from the tower. Hanging a vulture carcass, taxidcr~niceSfigy, or even an artificial decoy
from a towel- creates an i~nfavorableroosting environment for v ~ t l t ~ ~and r e s offers a simple, effective
means to manage problem-roost situations.
KEY M'ORDS: Cathartes aura; c.ornmuniration torom, Coragyps atratus; @A?; roost disprrsc~/;vullurc.i
Recent estimates suggest that in the United (1980-99) indicate that Black Vultures ( C o r a ~ p ~
States there are nearly 45 000 communication and atmtus) are increasing at an annual rate of 2.9% in
broadcast towers taller than 61 m, and industry Florida and 2.4% nationwide, and Turkey Vultures
projections suggest that 10000 Inore are likely to (Cathartes aura) are increasing annually by 1.2% in
be built in the next decade (Evans and Mannville Florida and 1.8% throughout the country (Sauer
2000, Tollefson 2001). Vulture populations also are et al. 2000).
increasing. Analyses of Breeding Bird Survey data Vultures sometimes roost on communication
and broadcast towers and similar structures. Stolen
(1996) recorded as many as 130 1~11turesroosting
' E-mail address: R.lichael.L.hery@:~phis.i~sd:~.go\ on a rnicro\vave tower in east-central Florida. In
46 A \ ~ R FT
\ -\I. \'()I. 36. No. 1
Table 1. \'arious types o f stimuli verc c\-aluated as ltleatls to disperse ~11lt11reI-oostso n torier-s at six sites in northern
Florida.
Texas, Buckley (1998) observed 4-136 Black and ing data ivcre presented (M. L,owncy pers. corrinl.).
Turkey vultures roosting o n power transmission Trials in Ohio demonstrated that Turkey Vultures
line support str~icturcs.Kirk ant1 Mossnian (1998) in a tree roost arid on an abandoned towcr, dis-
stat? that TIII-key Vl~ltl~r-es niay roost on comrr1~1- persed when fieezc-tlried Turkey Vulture effigies
nication towers "especially on \vat-m, still nights" were swspendcd at each site (T. Scarnaris pers.
but provide n o documentation of this activit): comin.). Tlicse promising results with Turkey Vul-
Defecations by roosting v ~ ~ l t ~ interf'crc
~res ~vith tures have not been duplicated fbr Black \'ulturcs,
the operation of' expensive equiprne~itant1 create ho\vcver. T h e only Black V11ltl11-eeffigy trial that we
unsafe and unpleasant conditions fbr workers who are aware of' comes horrr a newspaper article (Tam-
clinlb towrers to service and illstall equipment. In pa Tribune-Tirnes, 'LO February 1994). O n a Virgin-
addition, businesses and homeowners adjacent to ia farm where Black \'ultures reportedly attacked
a vultul-e roost site are adversely affected by vulture and killed several ducks, a Black \.'~~lture carcass
droppings and the unpleasant odor that results. suspended near a farm poiid deterred the vl~ltures
Given current trends in vulture populations and for "about two hours."
tower construction, it is probable that roosting o n O u r principal objective in this study was to de-
towers by \ u l t l ~ r e s~villbecome more widespread, termine whether whole carcasses or taxidrrnlic eE
and the need for effective, nonlethal solutions to figies would disperse Black Vultures fionl roosts on
this problem will increase as well. Pyrotechnics and towers. Secontlal-ily, we exairlined responses of
other noisemakers are disruptive to neighboring Black Mlltures to Turkey \'ult~~rceffigies, arid vice
businesses and lio~neo~vners and provide short- versa. In addition tve conducted a limited trial to
term relief at best. Physical and chemical deter- evalllate a plastic goose decoy as a vulture dispersal
~-entsapplied to perching srtbstrates ~vouldbe irn- agent.
practical because of the expansive perching area
available o n a tower. Furthermore, they ~vouldin-
terfere with operation and ~naiiitena~lcc activities 111 northern Florida, r\-e conductetl trials at six sites
o n the tower. T'is~laldeterrents such as reflecting (Table 1 ) . The tor\rr- \\ere not selectcd at ~-al~dorn but
\\.ere deterrnincd b! requests for assistance from the torv-
tape and scare-eye balloons seemed impractical er orvners. There \\.as considerable variabilit! among the
and probably ineffective based on previous c\altc- s t r ~ ~ c t ~ r r(Fig.
c s 1 ) . Black \'ultut-rs Icere predominant
ations with other species (Tobin et al. 1988, Tipton roosting species at niost sites (Table 1 ) .
e t al. 1989). \Ye monitored \ i ~ l t ~ un~~rnbet-s
-c at each sitc 3 d before
O n e rrietliod that appears to have some promise and 5) d after installation o f the vulture car-cass, taxider-
rnic cffip. or goose decoy. .It a gi\en site, rcc coirntcd
is hanging a v l l l t ~ ~ rcarcass
e or e f f i c in
~ the roost. I-oostil~g birds at thc same time each dav, cithrl- early in
This technique rvas suggested 011 a fact sheet on the ~rlorning(0630-08.10 H ) or late in the afternoon
\-~llturemanagement in Virginia, but n o suppol-t- (1630-1830 H ) . At four \ i t e . n e countcrl all of the bir-ds
Figure 1. Towers used as roost sites b! \ultures ill northern Florida: A-hlacclenny A; B-Macclenny B; (;-M'aldo;
D-Jacksonville; K-l)l~~-bi~l;
F-Niceville.
on thc tolver at the start of thr- dail) ol)servation period deco) and clipped a fishing tackle slvivel to tlic strap. The
and the11 recorded all vulti~resthat arrived or departed other erid of the s~\.i\el!\.as tied to a length of coated
dtu-ing the next 2 hr. 1% thcn del-i\ed a nlaxirnum tlail) mine 1.5 111-3.5 111 long, and then secured to the towel-
\ ~ t l t l ~coulit
re for cach of the folrr sites. At the hlacclcnny at the specified location 1)) whatever means the cliniber
B site, Tve countetl \ i t l t ~ ~ s conce
s ill the niorning (0800- felt appropriate. At two \itch, he climbel, installecl pulle!
0830 H ) , ant1 at 1)ur-bin, cooperators colwted all the vul- \\sterns so the stirni~luscoitld be recovered and replaced
tul-e\ they could see on the totver each day at 1'700 H. or I-edeplo!ed if ~icccssal-y.The t;uiderlnist pt-eparcd the
Cooperators \vet-c asked to be consistent and to count all \111tilrc effigies so that one ~vingextended beyond the
\ultures roosting on tllc totver at the salrie time each day. head nrld the other I\-ing !\-as folded. The plastic goose
Total nunlhcrs of v ~ ~ l t u r arce s r-cportrd itt ti out I-cgar-dto decoy !\.as painted to resemble a Turkey \7ultllre and had
~pecies. the ~ving> outstr-ctchcd pel-pe~ldicularto the body.
PI-ofcssional climbel-a illstalled the carcass, c f f i ~01- , de- FOI-analysis, n e groi~peddata into one 3-d prrtreat-
cov \o that i t 1ii1ng frecly and \\as able to slvi~lgand nvist melit period and thr-er 3-d posttreatment periods. For
in the ~vindwithoilt hecoming entangled ill the stl-ucture. cach study site, \\e calculated a mean \itltl~rccoi~ritfor
I~lst;tllatio~l al\\ays occul-I-edat midtlay to a\oid any con- each of the folu- pel-iods. I r e a l l a l ~ ~ cthew
d data using
tact !\-ith \-ultul-esi ~ s i ~ the
i g site. \I? secured the end\ of Fr-ied~nan'stest (Steel ant1 Tori-ie 1980) to conipare the
a 5hort leather str-ap to the legs of the cal-cass. cffi,?, or tlrlrnber of \ ~ ~ l t i t ~recorded
-es dllritig PI-etreatmrnt ~vith
48 AL'ERYET .\I.. VOI.. 36, No. 1
1989), but it is u~llikelythat each of the roosts we blcbfilla11), and ATXiT M'il-cless, Inc. (L. (;orodet7et-). J.
Ll'eavel- anti B. Owens assisted t\.ith data collection. B.
studied happened to disperse coincidentally with Millsap I-eviewetl the rnanrrscript. Tasiderrnic effigies
tlie installation of the carcass, effigy, or decoy. \vet-c pr-rp~u-edh\ T. Gilliard.
Management Implications. Suspending a wlture
effigy or carcass in a tower appears to be a quick,
effective lneans to rid the structure of roosting vul- Bv(:I(I.E\;N:]. 1998. Interspecific corrrpetition between
~ultitresfor preferred roost positions. I.Vilson Hlcll. 110:
tures. Once the stirnt~lusis properly installed, the
122-1 25.
only problem likely to be encol~nteredis possible COT.I'\I.\N, J.S. .\XI)J.D. F R A ~ F R .
11189. Flahitat use and
entanglement of the support line with the struc- home ranges of Black and Turkey vultures. J. IVil(I1.
ture. This car1 be avoided by keeping the support ,\.lnnr~g(,.53:782-792.
line to all appropriately short length. The extent E\.r\ss,\V.R., .AN[) A.M. M,\N\.II.I.~, 11 (Ells.). 2000. Avian
to which the effi<gy/carcass approach to manage- mortalit) at con~rrri~nicatioritowers. Transcripts of'
rnent of nuisance vl~ltureroosts can be extended Proceedings of' the Workshop on Avian hIortality at
to other types of roosts remains to be determined. (:orri~riunicatit,n Towrrs, 11 Xirgl~st 1999, (:orriell
Initial trials that we have conducted in vulture tree U n i ~ . ,Ithaca, NY U.S.A. http://wwtv.to\vcrkill.com
and http://~riigrator~bircl~~f~vs.gov/issi~es/to~vcrs/
roosts af'fecting residential neighborhoods have
agenda.
been promising. In each case the roost has dis- I(l~u\,D.A. \VI) M J . MOSSAI.IN. 19118. Turkey Vulture ((:ir-
pcrsed, although the response by the w~ltureswas thrir-t~crilrrrr). III.\I Poole and F. Gill [Eos.],The Birds
not as rapid as we observed in the tower roosts (M. of North America, No. 339. The Ril-ds of North Amer-
Awry unpubl. data). ica, Inc. Philadelphia, PA U.S.A.
There are constraints to the general use of a n11- ~ . I ~ ,,].F.. HIVES,
S . A L ~ J.R., I. THOIZL.IS, ,I. F a I.OX, .\NI) G.
ture carcass or taxidermic effigy. Both species of Gorc.fr. 2000. The North American U r c c d i ~ ~Bircl g
vultures are protected by Federal laws and it is un- S ~ ~ r v cKcsults
y, and Xrlal!sis 1966-1999. Vrrsion 98.1,
US Gcologic Survey Pa~irxcntLVildlife Research Ccn-
lawful to possess them without a perrriit from the
ter, Laurel, MD U.S.;\. http://tvr\~v.rr1br-11~vrc.r1sgs/
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Theref'ore, this tech- gov/bhs.
nique can only be used under s~~pervisiori of the SIF~.I., R.G.L). \un,].H. TOKKIE. 1980. Principles and Pro-
appropriate authorities. Also, the hanging of'a ~111- cedure$ of Statistics, 2nd Ed. McGra~v-HillBook C;o.
Lure carcass o r taxidermic effiLgycould be distaste- Nclv b l - k , NY U.S.X.
ful to the public. If this technique is used in areas STOIF Y , E.D. 1996. Roosting behavior- and fi~ragingccol-
of high visibility, then it rnight be prudent to con- og of Black \'l~ltirrcs in central Flol-ida. MS. thesis,
tact local conservation o r birding groups so that Urriv. of (;entral Florida, 01-lantlo,FL U.S.A.
SMEENE\; T.hl. 1x1) ].I). FKIS~K. 1986. V'ulture roost dy-
the carcass or effi<gyis not mistaken for a bird that
natnics and m o n i t o r i ~ ~techlliqrles
g in southtvest Vir--
accide~itallybecarne entangled in the tower. Final- ginia. Mild/. Sor. Bz~ll.14:49-34.
ly. prololiged exposure to the weather deteriorates T ~ ~ o \ ~ ! ~LV.L., s o s , R.H. Y\IIUI;R, .\XI) G.L. SI'C)R\I. 1990.
the carcass or effigy. Winter use and habitat characteristics of ~ulttu-econl-
We feel the development of an effective, dura- 1111uralroosts. ,/. \Vil(fl. lLln?~ng~. .i4:7T-83.
ble, readily available alternative is essential to the T r r r o s , h . K . , J.H. R\PI'~I.L:, D.B. ,]C?~ISSC)V, J. HOBBS,P.
\videspread use of this \rulture management meth- Sc r l r l L , S.L. B t ~ . ~ s oANI)
\ ~ , ,]. P ~ r . i r ~ o1989.
s. Use of'
monofilamer~tline, reflcctivc tape, beach-balls, and
od. The trial we conducted at Nicerille with the
pyl-otechnics for co~ltrollinggrackle damage to citrus.
Canada Goose decoy \\.as an encouraging step in Pages 126-128 i t , Ninth Great Plains Wildlife Damage
this direction. The decoy cost about $23.00 (U.S.), C:o~lrrol\lor-kshop PI-oceedings.CSDA Forest Service
and we rnade only rni11or changes in its appear- C;cncral Technical Report K\1-171, FOI-t(:ollins, CO
ance, yet vulture use of the tower was reduced 60%) U.S.A.
after the decoy \vas installed. This suggests that snc- T O K I >l.E.,
~ , P.P. \V(?ROYF< r\r, R.X. D o l . ~ t . e ,~I Y, l ) R.L.
cessful roost dispersal can be accomplished lvithout BKL(.(.ER\. 1988. Kcflecting tape fails to pr-otect rip-
ening bluehcr-rics fi-om bird damage. I.lil(ll. .Tor. B~tll.
the use of actual carcasses o r taxidermic effigies.
I Ci:300-303.
The focus of future field trials will be the e ~ i l u a -
1-011 krso\, (:. 2001. Reducing fatal hit-tl colli5ions with
tion of rarious comlnercial decov alternatives. natio~r'ccomrnrulications totvet-s. PPO~IP,Lrrnil 2 \Il;ltrr
8(2):17.
LVe are grateful for the coopel-ation a11d 411j1~ortfirom Recei\rd 29 May 2001: accrptrtl 1 October 2001
Spectrasite, Inc. (S. Sirignano), Pinnacle To\\ers. Inr. (G. hssoc iate Editol-: Clint Koal