Vultures are highly efficient scavengers which provide invaluable ecosystem services by rapidly removing carcasses. They have been shown to play a substantial role in reducing disease transmission rates.
However, the abundance of black vultures and turkey vultures in the southeastern United States occasionally results in conflict with human activities and operations. For example, these large-bodied birds can pose a risk to small aircraft utilizing the same air space.
My current research with SUNY Research Foundation involves collecting vulture pellets for dietary analysis, as well as monitoring vulture roosts around the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort, South Carolina, as part of a risk assessment for collisions with aircraft (also known as “bird-strikes”) .
Amanda E. Holland 