By DIANE VALDEN
COPAKE—If you got the strange feeling you were being watched as you went about your business in the Copake hamlet recently, you may have been right.
If you looked up what you saw may have sent a chill up your spine, especially if you were traumatized by a certain Alfred Hitchcock film.
Big black birds, more precisely—vultures (not to be confused with buzzards), took up residence in the hamlet. They could be seen roosting—lined up in creepy formation on rooftops, dumpsters, trees and railings.
They came for the free buffet.
But a recent crackdown initiated by Copake Councilman Stosh Gansowski seems to have caused them to seek a new supply of vittles elsewhere.
For the past few months the vultures, a mixed flock of black vultures with blackish gray warty heads, and turkey vultures with red fleshy heads, have made themselves at home in the area of the hamlet’s main street parking lot, northeast of the clock. One observer counted 50 to 100 birds at different times. Both types of vultures weigh about four pounds apiece; black vultures are about two feet long with a wingspan of four and a half feet; turkey vultures are a bit longer up to 32 inches and have a wingspan of six feet.
Councilman Gansowski took notice of the birds and didn’t like what he saw, basically, a bunch of “poo” all over everything.
It’s not just that these scavengers are dumpster diving and helping themselves to residents’ garbage cans—they cause damage. More about that in a minute.
Mr. Gansowski told The Columbia Paper the birds have been in the area year-round and he saw them over the summer in a big dead tree on Farm Road near Camp Waubeeka. They were perched there in the leafless tree with their wings partly extended, letting their feathers dry out.
Vultures are migratory birds, but in recent years they haven’t been traveling as far south as they used to, especially with the milder winters and food sources prevalent around here.
In an effort to find out what could be done to make Copake not so vulture hospitable, Mr. Gansowski called in an expert—U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Wildlife Services (WS) New York Eastern District Supervisor Ken Preusser, a Claverack resident, whose office is in Rensselaer.
USDA/APHIS/WS is an organization that provides federal leadership and expertise to resolve wildlife conflicts to allow people and wildlife to coexist.
Mr. Preusser came to speak at the February 8 Copake Town Board meeting.
The black vulture population throughout the Hudson River Corridor and New York State is growing at a rate of 8% per year. Because the population is going to continue to grow, “we are going to have to continue to manage these problems,” Mr. Preusser said.
Many other towns throughout the Hudson Valley have similar situations where they are trying to manage the birds by managing their habitat and reducing food availability.
While the birds are scavengers, they do feed on composting and garbage as well. “The number one thing that everyone can do…is to keep their dumpsters closed; put the garbage out the day of pick-up not the night before” and do not feed cats and dogs outside, they will eat pet food as well.
He said the black vultures are much more aggressive than turkey vultures, which have a more developed sense of smell—the better for sniffing out stinky dead or rotten stuff for dinner.
Mr. Preusser suggested there are other “more costly methods” for dealing with vultures but said the town should start by limiting food availability.
In answer to a question about why the vulture population is soaring, Mr. Preusser pointed to increased food availability such as road kill. With the deer population at record high numbers and car/deer collisions also at record highs—that’s their main food source, he said.
The black vultures also “get aggressive” with anything that contains rubber, such as windshield wipers, grills, flat rubber roofs and “they will tear shingles off roofs,” said Mr. Preusser.
At the meeting, Mr. Gansowski said he visited all hamlet merchants earlier in the week and asked them to keep the lids on their garbage receptacles. He noted that on a trip through the hamlet the day of the meeting he saw no vultures. And that observation has held true since then.
In a followup phone interview, Mr. Preusser said his office has previously worked with Hudson and Greenport in Columbia County and Millbrook in Dutchess County to manage problematic vulture populations.
A September 2019 USDA brochure about vulture management lists the type of property damage caused by black vultures which have sharp beaks and claws.
“Black vultures often damage homes and commercial buildings by tearing window caulking, roof shingles, vent seals, rubber roof liners, and pool covers. They can damage vehicles by scratching paint, removing rubber seals and wipers, and ripping vinyl seat covers from boats and tractors.”
The brochure also says, both types of “vultures also affect the quality of life for area residents. The birds’ feces and vomit can accumulate, especially on roofs of houses, office buildings, communication towers, and electrical transmission structures. When this happens on electrical transmission towers, arcing and power outages may occur, at great expense to utility companies.”
The literature also says, black vultures “can attack and kill calves, lambs, piglets, adult livestock incapacitated while birthing, and other weak animals.”
Vultures are migratory birds protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, state laws, and regulations. They are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (part of the U.S. Department of the Interior) and state wildlife agencies. The birds, their nests, and eggs cannot be killed or destroyed without a Migratory Bird Depredation Permit.
In conclusion, Mr. Gansowski said “these guys [vultures] are out for free food” and urged residents’ cooperation with keeping their refuse under wraps. Councilman Jeffrey Judd asked residents “to drive carefully and don’t kill any more deer than you have to.”
To contact Diane Valden email dvalden@columbiapaper.com
