This informative post will be published on Saturday in place of my regular one.  You are invited to participate with the opening question.

Brain Teaser Question

When my dad was 31, I was just 8 years old.  Now his age is twice as old as my age.  What is my current age?

(answer found at the end of this post)

Featured Facts

The United States is home to three types of vultures.  These carnivorous birds of pray live a life of consuming carrion, which is decaying flesh of dead animals.

Here are the types of vultures and their territorial range:

• Turkey Vulture:  virtually every region of the country
• Black Vulture:  predominately in southeastern region of the country
• California Condor:  selected areas of California and Arizona

The Turkey Vulture is the most common species in the United States.  Its appearance features an all black body, bald head, and pinkish bill.  They possess a highly developed sense of smell, which allows for easier detection of carrion up to eight miles away.  Lacking vocal cords, these birds can only make a “hissing” sound.

The Black Vulture is covered in black feathers, bald head with black skin, and wings with silver feathers on the underside.  They possess excellent vision, and they prefer killing small animals (skunks, opossums, baby pigs, calves, and lambs) for food instead of carrion.  They follow a habit of staying close to Turkey Vultures, who have a better sense of small.  Since Black Vultures are more aggressive, they frequently chase their competition away.

The California Condor is the largest bird in the United States.  With a predominately black body and wings, the underside of the wings is usually white.  The bald heads range in color from yellow to orange to pink to purple to blue to red.  

In 1987, the Condor is declared extinct in the wild.  The few remaining birds live in captivity.  Because of a very successful breeding program, Condors are released back into the wild in California (1991) and Arizona (1996).  The Condor has excellent gliding skills when in flight, and they can soar as high as 15,000 feet.  

All three of these raptors feature featherless heads and necks.  This helps to keep the birds clean while consuming carrion.  A powerful stomach acid protects each bird of prey from exposure to rabies, Black Plaque, botulism, distemper, and anthrax.  

row 1:  black vultures feasting, in flight, and looking for prey.  Row 2:  Turkey Vultures on left column, along with baby chick.  on the right column, california condor with handler (notice the size contrast).  row 3:  california condor in flight.  (all images courtesy of PINTEREST)

Answer to Brain Teaser Question

23 years old.