Turkey Vulture

Cathartes aura

Taxonomy:
Class: Aves
Order: Falconiformes
Family: Cathartidae
Subfamily: Cathartinae
Genus: Cathartes

Length: 24-38 in.
Weight: 3.5-5.3 lbs.
Wingspan: 60-72 in.

Common Names: buzzard, carrion crow

Etymology: kathartes (Greek) - "a purifier"; aurum - most likely a Latinized version of Latin American word for vulture

Description: The turkey vulture is the most common of the New World vultures. It is a blackish bird usually seen soaring over the countryside using long, narrow wings. On the underwing, silver flight feathers contrast with the black coverts on the leading edge of the wing. In flight, wings are held in a slight "V" (dihedral). Turkey vultures have long tails; their head is small, bare, and reddish in adult.

Flight: Turkey vultures are often seen soaring on thermals and updrafts, with their wings held in a slight dihedral. When soaring, they sway and rock from side to side, and look unstable in the air. They flap less frequently than black vultures, and usually hunt in a low flight.

Voice: Usually silent. At nest or when feeding, hisses and grunts.

Habitat: Mainly deciduous forests and woodlands. Often seen over adjacent woodlands.

Distribution: Turkey vultures are found throughout the entire continental United States and southern Canada. They are migratory throughout most of their range.

Nesting: Turkey vultures do not construct a nest. Instead, they usually use a cave, hollow tree or a fallen hollow. They normally lay 2 whitish eggs with dark brown splotches. Incubation lasts from 34-41 days and nestlings are covered with almost white down. Turkey vultures are more passive in nest defense than black vultures. Chicks are ready to leave nest in about 9 weeks, but will often stay in family groups until next breeding season.

Food: Turkey vultures have weaker talons and beaks than many of the other raptors, and don't often kill their own food. They are incredibly efficient scavengers; flying helps them to be more efficient than scavenging mammals, as vultures can get to the food faster and yet still have the large size to defend a carcass. Vultures have great appetites, eating up to 20% of their body weight in one sitting. Turkey vultures find their food using excellent eyesight and an incredible sense of smell. They can actually detect parts per trillion in the air and discern which direction they came from. This is one reason you often see vultures soaring; they can soar at incredible heights, up to several miles in the air.