Rare White Turkey Vulture Arrival

Every so often in the history of our center, we are presented with an unusual patient that presents us with an opportunity to document the existence of rarely seen wildlife in South Florida. This also presents us with a learning experience and a chance to educate others about the curve ball mother nature sometimes throws at us when we think we've seen it all.

In South Florida, Turkey Vultures abound in large numbers mainly in late August through roughly February as we are a common stop and sometimes a final destination on their yearly migration south from the northerly climates. This time of year their sightings are few and far between, but a small population does call South Florida their home. Among this small population a rarity occurs sometimes when two individuals carrying a recessive gene that represents the lack of color (white) get together and breed. This individual is not an albino per se, you can certainly see the mixture of pigment within the feathers and the lack of pink eyes.

It is not a certainty that this individual was hatched in South Florida. It is entirely possible that it was hatched elsewhere and migrated along with the rest of the population and just decided to stay. No one can say for sure, and there is a lack of research regarding the white vulture, although this is not the first sighting of one. The others in our area, like this one have been sighted only in the Florida Keys. Sightings are few and far between and offer little or no opportunities to study this phenomenon.

Photo courtesy of Florida Keys Wild Bird Center Tavernier, FL

It is a commonly accepted observation that the coloration of other species found in the Florida Keys tend to be on the pale, whiter side. There is an abundance of great white herons rarely seen on the mainland, red-shouldered hawks are markedly paler, and the Keys raccoons are significantly blonder in comparison to their Miami counterparts. Could this be a snapshot of an adaptation evolving to the highly reflective environment of the Florida Keys and the lack of trees and camouflage? It will certainly be worth noting in the years to come whether or not this trend continues. In the meantime, we will concentrate our efforts on making sure our unusual visitor receives the best care possible. Ironically enough, the presenting complaint is that the feathers are in very poor condition and a preen gland infection. We hope to resolve these problems and look forward to banding this individual for future study.

Welcome, what we do and who we are

Greetings. We are glad that you found us!

Join us on this strange and wonderful journey we call wildlife rehabilitation. In our circles we call each other rehabbers, but what exactly is wildlife rehabilitation?

Wildlife rehabilitators are individuals or organizations like ours that are licensed and permitted by federal and state governments to medically treat animals that are injured or have been separated from their parents(orphaned). The federal and state governments regulate who does this by checking how much experience the individual or organization has working with different types of wild animals and whether or not the facility has the appropriate caging or enclosures to keep the animal healthy, safe, and able to exercise well enough for release. We are NOT given money from either federal or state governments and most of our operating costs come from kind and concerned members of the public who bring us sick, hurt, and orphaned wildlife. It is our hope to return every injured animal back to the wild, but in some cases if the damage is too great, they must be humanely euthanized after careful consideration of injuries.

The Falcon Batchelor Bird of Prey Center at the Miami Science Museum receives approximately 500 animals per year from all over Miami-Dade county and occasionally Broward County and the Florida Keys. Of these animals brought to our center, around 150 on the average are raptors aka birds of prey and are admitted and treated by our medical staff. The remainder of these animals are stabilized on arrival and then are transported to other facilities or individuals that also specialize in different types of wildlife.

Our home is the Miami Science Museum on the outskirts of downtown Miami Florida. We are part of the museum's wildlife center and some of our former patients that were not well enough to be released back in the wild now live in the Museum's wildlife center as ambassadors to help our visitors learn about the perils our wildlife face in a rapidly developing urban environment. The wildlife center also operates an outreach program that visits schools and other organizations to teach our youth about the wonders of these animals so that they may carry the torch of wildlife conservation well on into the future.

So thank you for visiting us, come back again soon. We look forward to sharing our journey with you, you never know, we might meet you along the way.