WALNUT CREEK, CA — A 52-year-old turkey vulture celebrated his birthday Saturday with a cake made of watermelon, raw meat, and super worms. When you are the oldest living member of your species on Earth, you can have whatever you want.
Lord Richard lives at Lindsay Wildlife Experience on First Avenue, overlooking Larkey Park. His 52nd party drew generations of Walnut Creek families. Some have been visiting him since they were small enough to find a vulture genuinely terrifying. Now they find him endearingly ugly.
The bird hatched in San Francisco in 1974. That’s the year Nixon resigned. The year Rubik invented his cube. The year Happy Days premiered. Lord Richard has outlasted all of them from an aviary on First Avenue.
Birthday festivities included educational programs about turkey vultures and the job they do in the ecosystem. They eat the things nothing else wants to eat. That job deserves more respect than it gets. Bay Area band The Corner Laughers also performed an original song called “Lord Richard.” Can a turkey vulture appreciate indie pop? Open question. The crowd seemed to enjoy it.
Lord Richard, by the numbers
- Species: Turkey vulture (Cathartes aura)
- Age: 52
- Hatched: San Francisco, 1974
- Home: Lindsay Wildlife Experience, 1931 First Avenue, Walnut Creek
- Claim to fame: Oldest known living turkey vulture, per Guinness World Records
- Typical wild lifespan: 15–20 years
- Birthday menu: Watermelon, raw meat, and super worms
Lord Richard is not beautiful. He is a turkey vulture — bald red head, and a face that looks like it was designed by committee during a budget crisis. The job has not changed in 52 years. He sits in his aviary. He is exactly what he is.
“Not every animal needs to be cuddly to matter.”— Da Mayor
Wildlife experts determined he could not survive in the wild after he became accustomed to the humans who raised him. He joined Lindsay Wildlife and has been there ever since. He has outlasted presidents, cultural trends, and several generations of the squirrels in Larkey Park.
Wild turkey vultures typically live 15 to 20 years, according to the Audubon field guide. Lord Richard has more than doubled that. Guinness World Records recognizes him as the oldest known living turkey vulture on the planet. Walnut Creek, of all places, is home to a global record-holder, and he does not even know it. Probably for the best. Fame changes people. It doesn’t seem to change vultures.
You’ve seen his relatives around town without thinking twice. Those dark birds tilting and wobbling on the thermals above Mount Diablo are turkey vultures. They are nature’s cleanup crew. Bay Nature has a good primer on what they do out there. A captive one that has lived more than half a century is a local record you did not know this town held.
If you want to meet him, Lindsay Wildlife Experience sits at 1931 First Avenue. The center runs on donations. Eggs, pet food, supplies — this spring it asked the neighborhood to restock its wildlife hospital. While you’re out looking at local wildlife, the western monarch migration is worth a detour this fall.
The celebration ran from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday at 1931 First Avenue. Cake was served. A song was sung. A vulture with a face only a mother could love turned 52 in the California sun. Not a bad way to spend a morning.
For more on Lindsay Wildlife Experience and its resident animals, visit lindsaywildlife.org.
