81 cm/32 in in length, with a dark body, chicken-like feet and featherless red head. It ranges from southern Canada down to South America.
This scavenger lacks talons and rarely kills prey on its own. It roosts in dense woods near open fields and can often be seen during the day circling high above the ground looking for dead, decaying animals. A very sharp sense of smell and keen eyes help it locate food from up to 1.6 km (1 mi) away. Turkey vultures eat the carcasses of marine mammals along the shore as well as land animals. You may observe turkey vultures perched with their wings spread wide. This is for thermoregulation, either warming up or cooling down.
The Latin name for the turkey vulture means “cleansing breeze.” Yet one of its chief defenses when threatened is to regurgitate (throw up) on the predator.
Photo credit: ©Kip Evans
