Southern Agenda

A New Roost

An illustration of a person holding a tablet with a vulture perched on it

Illustration: Tim Bower


“Cute” isn’t the first word that comes to most people’s minds when they think of vultures, but that’s because they haven’t met George. Thirty-seven-year-old turkey vulture George Walter Paddington is a superstar of the bird world, with more than 33,000 followers checking his @george_ the_vulture Instagram account to watch him nibble bananas, untie shoelaces, pick the Super Bowl winner, and get into mischief daily at the American Eagle Foundation. “George has educated thousands of people and changed their perception of birds of prey,” says avian care specialist MaryBeth Gosnell. “The birds’ stories resonate with our audiences because they show their fun and silly sides.” George’s adoring fans can now visit him and other raptors at AEF’s recently opened headquarters. Nestled in the Great Smoky Mountains foothills, the foundation’s new facility on fifty-seven acres in Kodak gives a behind-the-scenes look at raptor rehabilitation. Beyond guided tours, AEF’s headquarters also features a Raptor Roost play area with an obstacle course and a human-scale eagle’s nest. Already proving popular is the center’s Raptor Museum and Aviary, where more than forty nonreleasable birds of prey live, including Challenger the Bald Eagle, Petunia the Peregrine Falcon, Poe the Raven, and, of course, George.

eagles.org