Beware The Black Vulture, Which Missouri Producers Say Is Picking Off Newborn Cattle

Standing in the pasture he planted with native grasses, Charlie Besher scanned gray autumnal skies as cows with swollen bellies lowed in the valley below. He hoped for rain. He hoped for safety for his herd. For now, the cellphone tower on the near horizon was empty, but by evening, black vultures would roost there again, often by the dozens.

If a cow had its calf overnight, there would be time for it to clean its baby up, to get rid of the afterbirth, before the black vultures took flight in the early morning. Maybe that would make it less attractive to the birds.

Besher and his wife raise cattle in two southeast Missouri counties. They’re among a growing population of producers who say they are losing calves and mother cows to black vultures that target soft tissues, such as the eyeballs and anus, until an animal dies or must be put down.

Some bird conservationists express skepticism that black vultures can depredate livestock, but Tom Cooper with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said black vultures have always been both scavengers and predatory.

What’s new is that black vultures have expanded their range in the U.S. to include southern parts of Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Missouri. Cooper said it’s likely happening because of warmer winters or the construction of cellphone towers, which make excellent roosting sites.