Revelers will be celebrating a new year in urban jungles around the world. In various venues in Orlando, Florida, confetti will fly, fireworks will explode and people will cheer.

On New Year Eve’s morning in a central Florida wetland, I find several black vultures sitting on a railing oblivious to our traditions, look them in the eye and wish them a happy new year. These large black birds turn and tilt their heads as if they are trying to understand what I am saying. For these vultures, it will just be another night.