Get ready to button up those coats and don those mittens, Key Biscayne.

The buzzards are back, two weeks earlier than last year and no doubt with some icy Arctic tailwinds pushing them south for the winter.

Dr. Gregory Bossart, Key resident and Miami Seaquarium veterinarian, said the migratory turkey vultures have arrived in South Florida and points further south for the snow bird season.

The vultures' early arrival may foreshadow a chilly winter. But then again, the soaring scavengers were a bit premature last fall and the winter saw nary a cold snap.

"Hey, go figure," said Bossart, who helped found the Miami Museum of Science's bird of prey rehabilitation center. "I'm not sure what it means."

But in spite of their idiosyncratic meteorological aptitude, Bossart said the buzzards are fascinating creatures that play a vital role in maintaining the life cycle.

"Humans tend to associate with animals they think are trendy," he explained, "but all animals are part of a natural system and eventually it affects us. The more cogs in the system we mess with, the more likely it is the wheel isn't going to turn anymore. Humans tend to remove themselves from the natural system because of technology. But we're still hooked in, particularly in Florida, where the ecosystem is dependent on fresh water."

Bossart said vultures, which eat carrion, clean the natural environment of bacteria which are harmful and unpleasant for most creatures.

"They clean up the dead stuff that would otherwise cause disease and impact the environment, so they have a very important role."

Bossart said the vultures seem to prefer Key Biscayne, especially the Rickenbacker Causeway, where they dry their wings from the morning dew in order to soar on wind thermals for hours on end without moving their wings, their most unique ability. The vulture's soaring talents are so admirable that aerospace engineers looked to the birds for ideas for the space shuttle design.

Bossart, who plans to fly in an Ultralight airplane in order to soar with the vultures this year, said he is not sure whether the vultures soar merely for food-seeking purposes.

"It looks like they're having fun to me."

According to Bossart, turkey vultures have a wing span of up to six feet. They can soar for several hours in groups called kettles, which are sometimes composed of more than 50 birds. The buzzard, which as one of the largest birds in North America stands on average 30 inches tall, hunts by sight and its tremendously powerful sense of smell. The birds are protected by the Migratory Bird Act of the early 1900s, one of the oldest wildlife laws in the U.S.

The vultures summer in the northern United State in placed like Hinckley, Ohio, where townspeople hold a celebration welcoming the birds back each spring. Bossart said he would like to arrange similar festivities for the buzzards' arrival on the Key.

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