Rewilding My Lot

A few days ago I happened to notice a large bird sitting on a nearby light pole.

My attention was drawn to it because of its size, and the pair of mockingbirds that were flying around it while making a lot of noise.

This large bird was a Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus). Their natural habitat is wooded areas, with nearby open areas where they can hunt for carrion. It is not unusual to see them in urban settings.

The vulture seemed completely unperturbed by the attention of the mockingbirds.

I don’t know why the mockingbirds were so eager to chase the vulture away. The bigger bird is unlikely to have been a direct thread to a nest, given its preferred diet, but maybe it just happened to be in their territory and they didn’t want the intrusion so near.

I watched them for a few minutes, but eventually left them to their argument and went back into the house.