Peeping turkey vultures

The last thing anyone wants to see before surgery is a loitering buzzard. But this is what’s happening at the Orthopedic Hospital of Wisconsin. Patients have seen nearly half a dozen turkey vultures hanging around ledges and windowsills.

Most of the patients and staff are enjoying the winged visitors. Hospital staff members have even named a few. What kind of cutesy name can you give to a buzzard?

If the buzzards are waiting for a meal, they should probably check out the local highway scene for some tantalizing road kill. Fortunately, most people get out alive from an orthopedic hospital. The birds are brown with bald red heads and a 6 foot wingspan.

“He sat right there for like 20 minutes,” says Carole Vaughner, pointing to the window. The Milwaukee woman was at the hospital for knee surgery. One of the buzzards looked at her and poked at the glass. Vaughner wasn’t concerned. The vultures seem to have become mini-celebrities as patients and staff have been taking pictures of the feathered visitors.

Scott Diehl, wildlife manager for the Wisconsin Human Society, isn’t surprised by the loitering birds. He says the vultures are most likely intrigued by seeing their reflections in the glass. It’s believed that recent flooding has uprooted the vultures and brought them to the ledges and windowsills of the orthopedic hospital.