Turkey vulture

It is also known in some North American regions as a "buzzard" or "turkey buzzard," which in the Old World instead refers to members of the genus Buteo. In some areas of the Caribbean it is known as the "John crow" or "carrion crow." == Taxonomy ==

The turkey vulture received its common name from the resemblance of the adult's bald red head and dark plumage to that of the male wild turkey, while the name "vulture" is derived from the Latin word vulturus, meaning "tearer", and is a reference to its feeding habits. The word buzzard is used by North Americans to refer to this bird, yet in the Old World that term refers to members of the genus Buteo. The turkey vulture was first formally described by Carl Linnaeus as Vultur aura in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae, and characterised as "V. fuscogriseus, remigibus nigris, rostro albo" ("brown-gray vulture, with black wing flight feathers and a white beak"). It is a member of the family Cathartidae, along with the other six species of New World vultures, and included in the genus Cathartes, along with the greater yellow-headed vulture and the lesser yellow-headed vulture. Like other New World vultures, the turkey vulture has a diploid chromosome number of 80. The taxonomic placement of the turkey vulture and the remaining six species of New World vultures has been in flux. Though both are similar in appearance and have similar ecological roles, the New World and Old World vultures evolved from different ancestors in different parts of the world. Some earlier authorities suggested that the New World vultures were more closely related to storks. More recent authorities maintained their overall position in the order Accipitiformes along with the Old World vultures or place them in their own order, Cathartiformes. However, recent genetic studies indicate that neither New World nor Old World vultures are close to falcons, nor are New World vultures close to storks. Both are basal members of the clade Afroaves, (containing the osprey and secretarybird along with Accipitridae). == Distribution and habitat ==

The turkey vulture has a large range, with an estimated global occurrence of . It is the most widely distributed vulture in the Americas and rivals its cousin the black vulture as the most abundant raptorial bird worldwide. It is found in open and semi-open areas throughout the Americas from southern Canada to Cape Horn. It is a permanent resident in the southern United States, though northern birds may migrate as far south as South America. The turkey vulture is widespread over nearly all American habitats but they tend to show particular habitat preferences. This species can be seen over open country, including grasslands but are often absent from completely treeless areas such as some parts of the prairies or Great Plains. Additionally, they may adapt to tropical and subtropical forests, shrublands, deserts and semi-desert, wetlands and foothills. Other manmade habitats can be used, with the species regularly seen over urban areas throughout its range, though they tend to use them more when not breeding, being unable to nest without appropriate habitats, and do not occur as an urban bird nearly as routinely as do black vultures in the tropics and subtropics. This bird with its crow-like aspect gave foot to the naming of the Quebrada de los Cuervos (Crows Ravine) in Uruguay, where they dwell together with the lesser yellow-headed vulture and the black vulture. == Subspecies ==

There are five subspecies of turkey vulture: == Description ==

A large bird, it has a wingspan of , a length of , and weight of . Birds in the northern limit of the species' range average larger in size than the vulture from the neotropics. 124 birds from Florida averaged while 65 and 130 birds from Venezuela were found to average , respectively. It displays minimal sexual dimorphism; sexes are identical in plumage and in coloration, and are similar in size. The body feathers are mostly brownish-black, but the flight feathers on the wings appear to be silvery-gray beneath, contrasting with the darker wing linings. The irises of the eyes are gray-brown; legs and feet are pink-skinned, although typically stained white. The eye has a single incomplete row of eyelashes on the upper lid and two rows on the lower lid. The two front toes of the foot are long and have small webs at their bases. The feet are flat, relatively weak, and poorly adapted to grasping; the talons are also not designed for grasping, as they are relatively blunt. It undergoes a molt in late winter to early spring. It is a gradual molt, which lasts until early autumn. Captive longevity is not well known. As of 2025, there is one captive bird which is 51 years old: a male named Lord Richard that lives at the Lindsay Wildlife Experience in Walnut Creek, California. Lord Richard hatched in 1974 at Randall Museum in San Francisco and arrived at Lindsay Wildlife later that year. Another turkey vulture named Nero lived to the age of 47. Nero also hatched in 1974 and was taken from his nest for research studies at the University of Wisconsin. He later became an education ambassador at Carpenter Nature Center in Hastings, Minnesota, and in 1993 he joined the education department of the University of Minnesota's Raptor Center. He remained their only educational vulture until his death in 2022. The oldest wild captured banded bird was 16 years old. Like most other vultures, the turkey vulture has very few vocalization capabilities. Because it lacks a syrinx, it can only utter hisses and grunts. Turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) in flight.JPG|Antillean turkey vultureC. a. aura, Cuba Eastern Turkey Vulture in flight, Canada.jpg|Eastern turkey vultureC. a. septentrionalis, Canada Chilean turkey vulture (Cathartes aura jota) in flight Maipo.jpg|Chilean turkey vultureC. a. jota, Chile == Ecology and behavior ==

The turkey vulture is gregarious and roosts in large community groups, breaking away to forage independently during the day. Several hundred vultures may roost communally in groups, which sometimes even include black vultures. It roosts often on dead, leafless trees as well as low-density conifers, and will also roost on man-made structures such as water or microwave towers. Though it nests in caves, it does not enter them except during the breeding season.This vulture is often seen standing in a spread-winged or horaltic stance. The stance is believed to serve multiple functions: drying the wings, warming the body, and baking off bacteria. It is practiced more often following damp or rainy nights. This same behavior is displayed by other New World vultures, by Old World vultures, and by storks. It cools the blood vessels in the unfeathered tarsi and feet, and causes white uric acid to streak the legs. The turkey vulture has few natural predators and the few recorded predators appear to take them quite infrequently. Fledging, immature and adult vultures, in descending likelihood of predation, may fall prey to great horned owls, golden eagles, bald eagles and potentially red-tailed hawks, while eggs and nestlings may be preyed on by mammals such as raccoons and opossums. Foxes can occasionally ambush an adult, but species that can climb are more likely to breach and predate nests than adults, while dogs may sometimes kill a turkey vulture as well. Its primary form of defense is regurgitating semi-digested meat, a foul-smelling substance, which deters most creatures intent on raiding a vulture nest. It will also sting if the predator is close enough to get the vomit in its face or eyes. In some cases, the vulture must rid its crop of a heavy, undigested meal to take flight to flee from a potential predator. The turkey vulture is awkward on the ground with an ungainly, hopping walk. It requires a great deal of effort to take flight, flapping its wings while pushing off the ground and hopping with its feet. Breeding The breeding season of the turkey vulture varies according to latitude. In the southern United States, it commences in March, peaks in April to May, and continues into June. In more northerly latitudes, the season starts later and extends into August. Courtship rituals of the turkey vulture involve several individuals gathering in a circle, where they perform hopping movements around the perimeter of the circle with wings partially spread. In the air, one bird closely follows another while flapping and diving. Eggs are generally laid in the nesting site in a protected location such as a cliff, a cave, a rock crevice, a burrow, inside a hollow tree, or in a thicket. There is little or no construction of a nest; eggs are laid on a bare surface. Females generally lay two eggs, but sometimes one and rarely three. The eggs are cream-colored, with brown or lavender spots around their larger end. They may rarely feed on plant matter, shoreline vegetation, pumpkin, grape, juniper, coconut and other crops, live frogs, live insects and other invertebrates. File:Turkey Vulture feeding.jpg|Feeding on a dead gull at Morro Bay, California File:Turkey Vulture stalks, catches and eats live garter snake (30570944315).jpg|Eating a live garter snake File:Tropical Turkey Vulture, Treinta y Tres Department, Uruguay imported from iNaturalist photo 174431143.jpg|Tropical turkey vulture (C. a. ruficollis) eating an Argentine black and white tegu. File:Turkey Vulture, Waterloo Regional Municipality, ON, Canada imported from iNaturalist photo 183784250.jpg|Eating a raccoon, in Ontario They rarely, if ever, kill prey themselves; when they do it tends to comprise small weak offspring or very sick individuals of various animals, such as bird eggs and nestlings, as well as reptiles. The turkey vulture can often be seen along roadsides feeding on roadkill, or near bodies of water, feeding on washed-up fish. This heightened ability to detect odors allows it to search for carrion below the forest canopy. King vultures, black vultures, and condors, which lack the ability to smell carrion at long distances, follow turkey vultures to carcasses. While other members of family Cathartidae were once believed to have no sense of smell, newer research suggests they are able to smell at short distances. The turkey vulture arrives first at the carcass, or with greater yellow-headed vultures or lesser yellow-headed vultures, which also share the ability to smell carrion. but is displaced in turn by the king vulture and both types of condor, which make the first cut into the skin of the dead animal. This allows the smaller, weaker-billed turkey vulture access to food, because it cannot tear the tough hides of larger animals on its own. This is an example of mutual dependence between species. Black vultures tend to be more aggressive and often displace turkey vultures which appear to be intimidated especially by the feeding frenzy engaged in by the black vultures when they come in numbers (a behavior turkey vultures are apparently incapable of even when at a carcass in numbers), however pairs or individuals often seem to be able to peaceably share carrion with turkey vultures. However, in the tropics such as Peru, turkey vultures appeared to prevail regularly over black vultures, in 56% of cases, perhaps due to the smaller size of the region's black vultures. It is further subservient to large hawks such as red-tailed hawks, Harris's hawks and Buteogallus black hawks, as well as to large falcons like peregrine falcons and crested caracaras, despite most of these birds being rather smaller in body size than a turkey vulture. Often these raptors tend to engage in dive-bombing or other intimidation displays towards the vulture(s) to displace them from carrion or from perch sites. Presumably all sympatric eagles are also dominant, with bald eagles confirmed to easily dominate turkey vultures in Florida. However, in the tropics Swainson's hawks and yellow-headed caracara (as well as lesser yellow-headed vultures) appear to be subservient to turkey vultures. Furthermore, turkey vultures are dominant over crows at carrion, but not over common ravens. == Relationship with humans ==

The turkey vulture is sometimes accused of carrying anthrax or hog cholera, both livestock diseases, on its feet or bill by cattle ranchers and is therefore occasionally perceived as a threat. The droppings produced by turkey vultures and other vultures can harm or kill trees and other vegetation. In captivity, it can be fed fresh meat, and younger birds will gorge themselves if given the opportunity. When the bird ingests the lead pellets within the carrion it leaches toxic lead into their bodies. Even at low contamination, lead exposure is linked to disease, neurological damage and reproductive failure. The turkey vulture species receives special legal protections under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 in the United States, by the Convention for the Protection of Migratory Birds in Canada, and by the Convention for the Protection of Migratory Birds and Game Mammals in Mexico. It is listed as a species of least concern by the IUCN Red List. Populations appear to remain stable, and it has not reached the threshold of inclusion as a threatened species, which requires a decline of more than 30 percent in 10 years or three generations. == References ==