Keep and Eye Out for Aggressive Black Vultures in Arkansas

Have you noticed any black vultures in your backyard or wooded areas in Arkansas? Normally when you see a black vulture it means something nearby is dead.

Black Vultures

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission needs your help in spotting special tagged black vultures. The tagged vultures is a part of a multi-year study and helps them determine the best methods on how to deal with them.

Black vultures and turkey vultures play a big part in our ecosystem by eating dead animals but black vultures tend to be a little more aggressive and cause problems for ranchers and farmers. Cows and other smaller livestock can be very vulnerable to the vultures and to cows giving birth, black vultures can also damage property, houses, and even boats, if they stay in one spot too long, according to the AGFC.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says some 89 black vultures were trapped and their wings tagged around the Arkansas-Missouri border. In addition, 28 were tagged with a tracking device and to identify one of these birds just look for the white tag placed on the bird's right wing with an attached number. Black Vultures have a black body with a bald head and they are more numerous in Arkansas than the red-headed turkey vulture.

What to Do If You Spot One

The AGFC says the birds are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 and can't killed without a permit obtained through the Arkansas Farm Bureau.

The commission warns people not to kill them and to report the tagged birds to the United States Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Lab online at reportband.gov. You can also contact the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service/ Wildlife Services. at 501-835-2318.