Most of the road kills they partake of are along country roads because both vulture species are savvy enough to stay away from heavy traffic highways. Most people aren't aware that turkey and black vultures have been known to kill and eat immature birds and animals. Occasionally, they have also been observed eating fruits and vegetables. Most of the time, however, in satisfying their own appetites with carion, vultures become sanitary engineers for the rest of us. They locate their meals through the combined use of their extraordinary vision and an acute sense of smell.
Vultures have another endearing quality.
In extremely hot weather, they will wet their legs with their own urine, thereby cooling down their body temperature. Which brings to mind an incident a birding companion and I observed one September day on the south side of Columbus. We were headed for the city disposal plant which sometimes is a good place to find shorebirds and miscellaneous rarities. It is adjacent to a rendering plant, both sites located along the banks of the Scioto River. There are also gigantic landfills a mile or two away, a trash burning power plant that was shut down because it was emitting unsatisfactory amounts of dioxin, a men's workhouse, and a women's workhouse.