Many people in Wyoming aren\u2019t terribly fond of turkey vultures. They poop all over trees, barf up \u201cpellets\u201d of leftover gristle and who knows what else, and just hang around looking creepy.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a rush to judgment, vulture advocates say. They admire turkey vultures as a bird that can migrate from Canada all the way to South America and play a vital role in keeping the landscape clear of rotting carcasses.<\/p>\n
One of the first signs of spring is vultures showing up in Wyoming, usually in March. They roost by the hundreds on the University of Wyoming campus, in Casper and elsewhere across the state.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ll fly out in the morning, usually between dawn and about 8 a.m., and spend the day soaring through the skies, looking for carrion to devour. Then they return in the evening to roost for the night.<\/p>\n
Around October, they\u2019ll leave, migrating south for the winter.<\/p>\n
Much remains unknown about Wyoming\u2019s turkey vultures. To help find out more, the UW Biodiversity Institute launched the Vulture Watch Wyoming volunteer program in 2024. A vulture-watching training session is set for March 24.<\/p>\n
![\"Turkey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/vulture-mob-3-20-26.jpg\")
Turkey vultures show up in Casper in March, and stay until October, when they migrate south. (Courtesy: Joanne Theobald)![\"Every](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Vulture-tuck-3-20-26.jpg\")
Every spring, hundreds of turkey vultures show up on the University of Wyoming campus and stay until fall. (Courtesy: Anna Petrey)![\"Every](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/vulture-wings-3-20-26.jpg\")
Every spring, hundreds of turkey vultures show up on the University of Wyoming campus and stay until fall. (Courtesy: Anna Petrey)Arrow leftArrow rightHere Come the UW Vultures<\/p>\n
In Laramie, the UW campus is turkey vulture central; there have been as many as 297 of them counted roosting in trees or on buildings, mostly around the Old Main building or in clusters of spruce trees around 15th and Garfield streets.<\/p>\n
Vultures seem to like spruce, cottonwood and poplar trees. They don\u2019t seem to care much for pine trees, and nobody is sure why, said Elizabeth Wommack, curator and collection manager of vertebrates at the UW Museum of Vertebrates.<\/p>\n
They first started showing up on campus around 2010, she told Cowboy State Daily.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey sort of used that core group of spruces when they first arrived, and they spread out to other trees,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Anna Petrey, a Ph.D. student in Clinical Psychology at UW, told Cowboy State Daily that she developed a fascination with turkey vultures after spotting them on campus and joined Vulture Watch Wyoming.<\/p>\n
\u201cVultures are a really precious and interesting bird to me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She understands that most people don\u2019t perceive vultures that way.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s in part because people do find them to be stinky and gross. But I thought, \u2018that can\u2019t be fair, I need to learn more about them,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they\u2019re pretty cool-looking; that might be an unpopular opinion,\u201d Petrey added.<\/p>\n
Even when there are hundreds of them roosting on campus, it\u2019s easy to miss noticing them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey roost up high in trees, and people might not look straight up and see them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Vultures are also incredibly quiet, because they basically can\u2019t vocalize, she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best that they can do is a quiet hiss, and that\u2019s all they can produce,\u201d Petrey said.<\/p>\n
![\"Every](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Vulture-tree-3-20-26.jpg\")
Every spring and summer, hundreds of turkey vultures roost in trees on the University of Wyoming campus. (Courtesy: Mason Lee)![\"Turkey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/vulture-field-3-20-26.jpg\")
Turkey vultures scour the countryside across Wyoming, looking for carrion to eat. (Courtesy: Rena Parsons)![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/vulture-juvenile-3-20-26.jpg\")
The turkey vulture on the left in this photo is a juvenile, identifiable by its gray head and beak, compared to the red head and white beak of an adult. (Courtesy: Joanne Theobald)Arrow leftArrow rightRoosting, Not Nesting<\/p>\n
Wommack said that roosting spots are where turkey vultures go to rest and sleep. They don\u2019t nest or raise their young in those places.<\/p>\n
Vultures nest in hidden, isolated places, and don\u2019t like their nests being disturbed, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe nests are hidden, in places like crevices, caves or hollow trees,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
A turkey vulture nest was once discovered in the trunk of an abandoned car in Nebraska, Wommack said.<\/p>\n
Juvenile turkey vultures are ready to leave the nest after a few months. They can be identified by their gray heads and dark-colored beaks.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s in contrast to the red heads and \u201cbone-white\u201d beaks of adults, Wommack said.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s uncertain just how many turkey vultures spend the spring, summer and early fall in Wyoming, she added.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s one of the mysteries that she hopes the Vulture Watch Wyoming program will help unravel, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of those common avian species that we sometimes take for granted,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe decided that reaching out to the community and asking the community to help would be the best way to find out more about them,\u201d Wommack added.<\/p>\n
![\"Turkey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/vulture-snow-3-20-26.jpg\")
Turkey vultures show up in Casper in March, and stay until October, when they migrate south. (Courtesy: Joanne Theobald)![\"Turkey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/vulture-face-3-20-26.jpg\")
Turkey vulture have warts on their faces, called crunkles. (Courtesy: Joanne Theobald)Arrow leftArrow rightNature\u2019s Clean-Up Crew<\/p>\n
Vultures are designed to consume dead animals, particularly in warm weather, Wommack said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t have the same equipment that eagles do,\u201d such as huge claws and sharp, curved beaks for catching prey and killing it, she said.<\/p>\n
Those same features allow eagles to turn to scavenging during the winter, because they can rip into frozen carcasses.<\/p>\n
Vultures, on the other hand, require softer carcasses that have started to rot a little, which is why they show up to scout the Wyoming landscape during the warmer months.<\/p>\n
Vultures search for food by soaring at high altitudes. As one might expect, they have excellent eyesight for spotting dead animals below, Wommack said.<\/p>\n
They also have an incredible sense of smell, which helps them find rotting carcasses from great distances, she added.<\/p>\n
In Wyoming and across the Great Plains region, turkey vultures don\u2019t have much direct competition.<\/p>\n
Farther east or west, they must contend with black vultures or California condors, both of which are bigger and will bully turkey vultures off carcasses.<\/p>\n
Adult turkey vultures weigh about four pounds on average and have wingspans of 4\u00bd to 6 feet.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have about the same wingspan as golden eagles, but they weigh much less than golden eagles,\u201d Wommack said.<\/p>\n
There are written records of turkey vultures in Wyoming going back to the 19th century, she said.<\/p>\n
Turkey vulture have warts on their faces, called crunkles. (Courtesy: Joanne Theobald)\u2018Crunkles\u2019 in Casper<\/p>\n
Multitudes of turkey vultures roost in trees in Casper, said resident Joanne Theobald, a Vulture Watch Wyoming volunteer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m lucky enough to live in a tree neighborhood in Casper. So we\u2019re lucky enough to have roosting vultures, including one right outside my window, in my neighbor\u2019s tree. So I get the view without the mess,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Though vulture poop is remarkably clean, it builds up over time, so she understands why homeowners with trees get fed up with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey also throw these pellets; they barf them up. And then there\u2019s the feathers too,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople just kind of develop this idea that vultures are dirty, or that they mean death, or they\u2019re going to carry off your small animals,\u201d Theobald said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople think they\u2019re creepy, because they\u2019re ugly, but that\u2019s not their fault,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
In addition to their bald heads, vultures develop white facial warts, called \u201ccrunkles,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
That might make them even less visually appealing to some, but Theobald said she wonders if the differing number of crunkles on vultures\u2019 faces could help identify individual birds.<\/p>\n
Theobald hosts presentations to educate people about vultures and dispel some of the negative impressions about them.<\/p>\n
And she thinks Wyoming makes a great place for turkey vultures to come hang out during the warm months.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I were a vulture, I would love Wyoming. It\u2019s windy here and they just love to ride the thermals. And there\u2019s wide open spaces with lots of things just dying of natural causes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n