Circling? Relax.
We're not an omen, that’s true.
That deer was just slow.
-          Tom Bayles

Florida's turkey vultures and black vultures don't get a lot of love.

Some of their habits — dining on roadkill al fresco, a defense mechanism that involves bringing some of that partially digested roadkill back up if threatened, and they leave droppings prodigiously — aren't exactly genteel and sightly.

Hummingbirds and cardinals they aren't.

But, then again, the roadkill part is a good reason why they are known as nature's cleanup crew.

Both of Florida's vulture species are protected under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, making it illegal to harm or kill them without a permit.

Vultures, despite the unsavory habits, are raptors, kin to more majestic birds of prey such as hawks, ospreys, falcons and owls.

Ornithologists draw a distinction between the chicken-like, weak-footed turkey vultures and black vultures in Florida, which are usually scavengers, and raptors like hawks, eagles, ospreys and falcons that grab live prey with powerful talons. But in popular vernacular and field guides, vultures are lumped in with raptors because they share hooked beaks, soar over open country and eat meat.

Audubon Florida wants poets from Southwest Florida and the rest of the state to write haikus celebrating both vulture species ahead of International Vulture Awareness Day on the first Saturday of September each year.

More

• The free haiku entry form is available here from now through July 31.

It grew out of separate vulture awareness events run by the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s Birds of Prey Programme in South Africa and the Hawk Conservancy Trust in England, which joined forces to build a single international event in 2009.

Since then, it has grown into a worldwide campaign, with researchers, educators, and wildlife groups from dozens of countries using the day to spotlight vulture conservation and push back against the birds’ reputation as symbols of death and decay.

A haiku is a three-line Japanese poetry form. The first and third lines each have five syllables. The middle line has seven.

"Vultures are wonderful, wild, and frequently spotted whirling in the skies above Florida," Audubon Florida wrote online. "As nature's clean-up crew, they play a critical role in the environment,"

Fifteen winning poems will be printed and installed along storywalk — an outdoor walkway at the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey — in September. The Maitland-based center opened in 1979 and has a specialist animal clinic that treats more than 700 injured, sick, and orphaned raptors every year.

So why does Audubon want to celebrate the vultures, as well as other raptors?

Some note their majestic flight. Others note their amazing features. And they act as nature’s janitors, or clean-up crew if you wish.

“Winners receive the satisfaction of having their poem included in the storywalk, as well as a free annual membership to the Center for Birds of Prey,” Erica Zambello of Audubon Florida wrote. “Poet’s name as entered on the submission form will be included alongside their poem, unless the poet chooses to remain anonymous.”

Nature's cleanup crew.
They take what we'd rather not.
Audubon says thanks.
- Tom Bayles

Vultures urinate and defecate down their own legs - on purpose. Their waste cools their legs through evaporation. The acidity helps kill bacteria picked up from standing in carcasses.

The byproduct is white-streaked legs and a buildup of corrosive droppings wherever they roost.

They also carry and spread pathogens. Feeding on rotting carcasses puts them in contact with bacteria like salmonella and other microbes, which roost sites and droppings can spread to surfaces, water and livestock areas.

Large groups of vultures sometimes gather on roofs and pull up shingles, tear patio screens, unearth underground wiring, and rip it out.

Why? Boredom, often.

Black shingles on a roof hold heat, which the birds take advantage of during cold days. Then they get bored, and start in on the shingles. Or the pool cage.

And the windshield wipers on a car have a plastic they want to check out by pecking at it.

It’s probably going to be a bit tough to find someone who lists a turkey vulture above a manatee, sea turtle hatchling, or Florida panther kitten as their favorite cutest animal.

Although, in Audubon's contest, the haiku doesn’t need to say that. The contest is wide open.

Submissions are free — available here —and the contest is open through July 31. Audubon staff will choose winners in August. Poets must be 18 or older. No AI-assisted writing is allowed.

Environmental reporting for WGCU is funded in part by VoLo Foundation, a nonprofit with a mission to accelerate change and global impact by supporting science-based climate solutions, enhancing education, and improving health.

Sign up for WGCU's monthly environmental newsletter, the Green Flash, today.

WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate now. Thank you.