In honor of International Vulture Awareness Day coming up later this week, we're featuring our I Love Vultures design for this week's T-Shirt Tuesday. This design features three of our Birdorable vultures: the California Condor; the Turkey Vulture; and the Black Vulture. The design is shown here on a baby fine jersey t-shirt, but is also available on dozens of other apparel styles and colors.

Reminder: International Vulture Awareness Day is coming up very soon! The purpose of IVAD is to highlight and promote vulture conservation and awareness. As part of this special day there will be a blog carnival which welcomes anyone and everyone to participate. We are very proud to have our Birdorable Black Vulture featured on the blog carnival's badge!

Again this week we're featuring a cute Birdorable vulture for T-Shirt Tuesday in honor of International Vulture Awareness Day 2009. This time we've got our Birdorable Egyptian Vulture baseball jersey.

Reminder: International Vulture Awareness Day 2009 is coming up on September 5th! The purpose of this event is to highlight and promote vulture conservation and awareness. As part of this special day there will be a blog carnival which welcomes anyone and everyone to participate. We are very proud to have our Birdorable Black Vulture featured on the blog carnival's badge!

Today's featured Birdorable cute bird t-shirt is this Turkey Vulture organic women's top. We recently added several new organic apparel styles like this one; you can see all of our organic apparel here.

Speaking of vultures, International Vulture Awareness Day 2009 is coming up on September 5th. The purpose of this event is to highlight and promote vulture conservation and awareness. As part of this special day there will be a blog carnival which welcomes anyone and everyone to participate. We are very proud to have our Birdorable Black Vulture featured on the blog carnival's badge!

This Earth Day we've added the 175th species to Birdorable: the Egyptian Vulture. This striking black-and-white bird with yellow face lives in southern Europe, northern Africa and southern Asia. Unfortunately, its numbers are in decline over large parts of its range.

In Europe and most of the Middle East it is only half as plentiful as it was about twenty years ago, and the populations in India and southwestern Africa have collapsed almost entirely. In Egypt this bird is also known as the Pharaoh's Chicken because of its relationship with Ancient Egypt's oldest deity, Nekhbet. They referred to the bird as the Mother of Mothers and it was depicted on the front of the pharaoh's crown.

The nurturing behavior of these vultures while rearing their young led to a view of them as model parents. We saw these two Egyptian Vultures from a boat on the Chambal River in Rajasthan, India:

If you like our Egyptian Vulture you may also like our other Birds of Prey. Here are two sample products from our store:

Today we've added the one hundredth bird species to Birdorable.com: The California Condor. This is the answer to Spot the Birdorable 9. For all 100 species see Meet the Birds. The California Condor, a type of vulture, has the largest wingspan of any bird found in North America. The bird today is considered critically endangered. In 1987 the last wild California Condor was captured to become part of one of the most expensive conservation projects ever. At that time there were only 22 individuals! In early 2008 this number had increased to over 300 birds, with over 150 in two wild populations. Birdorable supports the California Condor 30% of the retail price for all sales of the Save the California Condor and Return of the California Condor designs will be donated to The Ventana Wildlife Society. These include the following Save the California Condor and Return of the California Condor designs:

To see all four designs see the California Condor page. Here's a photo of a Birdorable Condor perched on a branch overlooking the Grand Canyon:

The American Black Vulture might not strike everyone as "cute" in the traditional sense. Known for their stark black plumage and their role as nature's clean-up crew, these birds carry a certain rugged beauty and an air of mystery that is often misunderstood. However, through the lens of Birdorable, even the American Black Vulture gets a makeover that highlights its unique charm, transforming it into an adorable character that can capture hearts and change perceptions.

American Black Vultures are remarkable birds that play a crucial role in the ecosystem. As carrion-eaters, they serve as nature's way of recycling, helping to clean up the environment by consuming dead animals. They are found across the southern United States and stretch down through South America, adapting to a variety of habitats from open countryside to forests and even urban areas.

What makes the American Black Vulture stand out, aside from its all-black appearance, is its social behavior. These birds are known to be highly social creatures, often seen roosting and flying in large groups. Their strong familial bonds and community dynamics are fascinating, revealing a complex social structure that is rare among many bird species.

The American Black Vulture's adaptation to various environments, including its presence in human-inhabited areas, also highlights the importance of coexistence and the need for conservation efforts to protect these essential avian scavengers. By understanding and appreciating their role in the ecosystem, we can foster a more harmonious relationship with them, ensuring that they continue to thrive and perform their critical environmental duties.

Turkey vultures, often misunderstood and overlooked, are truly fascinating creatures of the avian world. With their impressive wingspan and unique flying patterns, they glide effortlessly across the sky, serving as nature's clean-up crew. These birds are essential to the ecosystem, playing a crucial role in keeping our environment healthy and balanced.

Despite their somewhat grim reputation as scavengers, turkey vultures possess remarkable traits that deserve admiration. One of their most extraordinary abilities is their keen sense of smell, which allows them to detect carrion from miles away—a rare talent among birds. This keen olfactory sense guides them to their meals, helping to rid the landscape of dead animals and, consequently, preventing the spread of disease.

Turkey vultures are also known for their social behavior, often seen roosting in large groups. These communal gatherings can be a sight to behold, with dozens of birds perched together in trees or on rooftops at dusk. Their social nature extends to their flying habits, where they can be observed soaring in the skies in search of food, utilizing thermals to keep them aloft with minimal effort.

Another intriguing aspect of turkey vultures is their method of cooling down. On particularly hot days, they practice urohydrosis—where they urinate on their legs to take advantage of the cooling effect of evaporation. While this behavior might seem odd to us, it's a brilliant adaptation to their often sweltering habitats.

Despite their critical role in the ecosystem and intriguing behaviors, turkey vultures face challenges, including habitat loss and poisoning from ingesting toxins in carrion. These threats highlight the need for continued conservation efforts to ensure that turkey vultures, and other scavengers, remain a vital part of our natural world.

In the end, turkey vultures are much more than the grim reapers they are often made out to be. They are intelligent, social, and incredibly adapted to their niche, playing an indispensable role in the balance of nature. By understanding and appreciating these birds, we can foster a greater respect for all wildlife, recognizing the importance of every creature, no matter how unassuming or misunderstood.