Ranking at the height of the marmots that do not see their shadows in February and the first flower petals that break through the snow to signal the arrival of spring, there is another rite to mark the change of the seasons, the Return of the Buzzards in Hinckley, Ohio.
Buzzards Day return
Every March 15 since 1957, the City of Hinckley eagerly awaits the return of the vultures from their winter break. At dawn, an official observer and hundreds of others with binoculars look up to be the first to see the vultures returning to Buzzard’s Roost on the Hinckley Reservation in the Cleveland Metroparks.
The beginning of the Hinckley tradition
The tradition stems from the Great Hinckley Hunt of 1818, where settlers killed dozens of wolves, bears, and other predators that threatened their livestock. The snow came, covered the corpses, and in the spring, after the thaw, the vultures found a feast. Lore claims that because of that great hunt two centuries ago, birds are instinctively programmed to return to this “land of plenty” to rest.
The town and game are named after Ohio landowner Samuel Hinckley, a Massachusetts judge who founded the town.
The buzz of buzzards
The vulture, a common name for the turkey vulture, is a large, graceful bird with a bald head and red beak. It is unrelated to the Old World black vulture family, which includes the eagle, hawk, and kite. The buzzard is native to America from southern Canada to the tip of Cape Horn. Inhabits a variety of open and semi-open areas, including subtropical forests, scrublands, grasslands, and deserts.
Vultures are carrion feeders, their livelihood is based on already dead creatures. Native Americans have called turkey vultures “Eagles of Peace” because they do not kill prey.
While most birds have keen eyesight, vultures have keen sense of smell. They locate the decomposing remains even if it’s hidden, and then clean it up. They can smell a rotting corpse from more than two miles away. Its most unique feature is a digestive system that kills all viruses and bacteria in the diet, and its droppings do not transmit disease. If you ever get a chance to see featherless redheads swaying in the road, remember that they may not be pretty, but they do a good job of sterilizing the gardens.
Where is the Hinckley buzzard going?
In the winter, since snow covers most of their potential food, Ohio vultures have been known to fly as far south as North Carolina during their winters. Since the Hinckley Preserve is a protected area for birds, every year around the same time, birds return to perch and announce new generations of vultures.
The beginning of the Hinckley tradition
The tradition stems from the Great Hinckley Hunt of 1818, where settlers killed dozens of wolves, bears, and other predators that threatened their livestock. The snow came, covered the corpses, and in the spring after the thaw, the vultures found a feast. Lore claims that because of that great hunt two centuries ago, birds are instinctively programmed to return to this “land of plenty” to rest.
The town and game are named after Ohio landowner Samuel Hinckley, a Massachusetts judge who founded the town.
