Vulture Movements Tracked by Satellite — Black 

 vultures and turkey vultures represent serious safety 

 hazards for high-speed, low-flying military aircraft. 

 Winter surveys indicate that vulture numbers in 

 South Carolina are two to three times higher than 

 national averages. In recognition of the potential 

 danger to its pilots and aircraft, the U.S. Navy 



Black vultures are fitted with solar-powered satellite transmitters 

 and patagial tags in order to document the birds' movements 

 in the vicinity of the Marine Corps air station in South Carolina. 

 Biologists are working with the military to reduce bird-strike 

 hazards to aircraft. (NWRC photo by E. A. Tillman.) 



contracted with WS to investigate options for vulture 

 management at the Marine Corps Air Station in 

 Beaufort, SC. The goal of the study is to document 

 vulture movements and activity in the area of the air 

 base, and devise a management plan to alleviate 

 potential hazards. 



Working with wildlife biologists from the South 

 Carolina WS office, NWRC researchers attached 

 solar-powered GPS satellite transmitters to eight 

 black vultures and eight turkey vultures. Hourly 

 readings provided data on each vulture's location, 

 altitude, and speed. The GPS locations were 

 processed into a GIS database that permits analyses 

 of daily and seasonal movements, night communal 

 roost locations, and daytime activity centers. In 

 addition to the 16 birds with transmitters, WS 

 biologists also marked more than 120 vultures with 

 conspicuous, white wing tags. Resightings of these 



Vulture roost sites (white areas) and vulture movements 

 (dashed lines) are mapped using satellite telemetry data. 

 (NWRC photo by M. P. Milleson.) 



Developing Methods 35 



