YUMA, Colo. — The hailstorm that ripped through the small eastern-plains community of Yuma on Monday injured more than a dozen turkey vultures, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
The injured birds were taken to the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program in Fort Collins to be rehabilitated.
The destructive storm that ripped through Yuma on Monday also impacted the area's turkey vulture population. Our wildlife officers responded to collect injured turkey vultures for rehab. We transported more than a dozen to @RaptorProgram to get healthy. pic.twitter.com/am6tUPfufj
— CPW NE Region (@CPW_NE) May 21, 2024
Turkey vultures – the only common vulture species in Colorado – return to our state in the spring and summer after wintering in Central and South America, according to the Boulder County Audubon.
Residents and business owners across Yuma were left cleaning up broken windows, windshields and siding after Monday’s hail storm. There were reports of golf ball and baseball sized hail that fell throughout the city, creating knee-deep piles of hailstones in some spots.
Hail as large as 4 inches in diameter fell not far away in Akron, according to Denver7 meteorologist Danielle Grant.