I got my camera for this…

[Greyman50]

We feed the birds pretty well, have seen many at one of our 2 feeders in back yard. Last week a buzzard came by and lit on the largest one. We thought a fluke but seems not as 2 came by this afternoon , landed on the ground and started Eating the Cheep-o cat food put out for the raccoons. I was amazed and had to get a pic or 2.

 

[Golddollar]

We feed the birds pretty well, have seen many at one of our 2 feeders in back yard. Last week a buzzard came by and lit on the largest one. We thought a fluke but seems not as 2 came by this afternoon , landed on the ground and started Eating the Cheep-o cat food put out for the raccoons. I was amazed and had to get a pic or 2.View attachment 667363

View attachment 667364

View attachment 667365

Sure beats road kill!

 

[paknheat]

That’s pretty cool. I fed a coon to some buzzards earlier this morning.

They sure seemed pretty happy to get it.

Thing definitely won’t be getting after my chickens anymore.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Greyman50]

Yea coons and chickens do not mix very well. Had 2 pet coons as a kid. Raised both from medicine dropper to a bottle then people food. One even sat in my old high chair at the table and ate with us. he was the best as they are Way Smarter than dogs or cats. We had chickens and he was taught not to fiddle with them. The coons here seem to get knocked off somehow as we went from 4 young one to just 1 now. The local feral cats eat also and 1 is taming down as sure it was “ thrown out” by someone.
From what we’ve read buzzards are Very intelligent so guess they noticed all the birds eating so they had to check it out and found the cheap cat food. Will see if a flock of buzzards show up.

 

[444 Magnum]

That's a new one for me Greyman. I didn't know buzzards would eat anything but carrion.
My sister raised a couple of possums and a couple of squirrels when I was a kid. The possums wondered off to the creek and the squirrels were eaten by an owl. The owl found the business end of a Marlin Golden 39a.
I got the wife a bird feeder for Christmas and we've enjoyed watching the various birds come to it. This morning, cardinals and wrens on the feeder, squirrels and dove on the ground eating the "throw aways" the birds don't want.

 

[Greyman50]

Yes sort of an really unusual event. Had all sorts of buzzards around the farm growing up and always read they only eat dead critters. Read they have a “ scout” that flys around looking for dead things, lands and checks to see if its “ready to eat” then flys back and the flock follows. We are watching to see if they return today. Not sure what to do if the flock shows up. BTW, black head buzzards are taking over from these turkey buzzards as the black headed ones are “ immigrants”….

 

[Protocall_Design]

That says a lot about the quality of the cat food...

 

[erikpolcrack]

Last year we started putting out cat food for a local racoon family. We especially liked watching the young ones. We put it on one of our porches and left the porch light on until bedtime to watch the show. We got more than we bargained for. Other regular nighttime visitors have included skunks, possums, foxes, and coyotes. The skunks and raccoons often show up at around the same time and tolerate each others presence. The morning clean-up crew includes local feral cats, squirrels, chipmunks, and birds - mostly blue jays. We have birdfeeders, too. We have to bring them in each night empty or not because they attract black bears overnight who tear them down and disassemble them looking for every last morsel. We've even had one bold sow who'd come up on the porch late at night and push and nuzzle at the door.

 

[Golddollar]

From what we’ve read buzzards are Very intelligent so guess they noticed all the birds eating so they had to check it out and found the cheap cat food. Will see if a flock of buzzards show up.

We have black buzzards aka the Gettysburg Air Force around here. They must learn well. One day I was driving around outside of Gettysburg and right in the middle of the road were two black buzzards chowing down on road kill. Most birds seem to take off when a car come with 25 yards of them. But I guess the buzzards learned that most cars aren't a threat to them, so they just took few steps backward and let me pass.

 

[Greyman50]

Yes, have noticed buzzards just step away and let traffic pass then chow down again. Heard a story that a girl raised a little buzzard she found in the woods. Said it was the best “ pet” she ever had.

 

[TX-Dennis]

I once had to stop on a two lane farm road because the feasting turkey vultures wouldn't leave their meal. I did NOT want turkey vulture guts splattered all over my vehicle. After I honked repeatedly they finally moved enough that I could get past.