| Turkey vulture | |
|---|---|
_Orange_Walk.jpg) | |
| C. a. aura Orange Walk District, Belize | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Accipitriformes |
| Family: | Cathartidae |
| Genus: | Cathartes |
| Species: | C. aura |
| Binomial name | |
| Cathartes aura | |
 | |
| Range ofC. aura[image reference needed] Summer only range Year-round range | |
| Synonyms | |
Vultur auraLinnaeus, 1758 | |
Theturkey vulture (Cathartes aura) is the most widespread of theNew World vultures.[2] One of three species in the genusCathartes of the familyCathartidae, the turkey vulture ranges from southern Canada to thesouthernmost tip of South America. It inhabits a variety of open and semi-open areas, including subtropical forests, shrublands, pastures, and deserts.[1]
Like all New World vultures, it is not closely related to theOld World vultures of Europe, Africa, and Asia. However, the two groups strongly resemble each other due toconvergent evolution.
The turkey vulture is ascavenger and feeds almost exclusively oncarrion.[3] It finds its food using its keen eyes and sense of smell, flying low enough to detect the gasses produced by the early stages of decay in dead animals.[3] In flight, it usesthermals to move through the air, flapping its wings infrequently. It roosts in large community groups. Lacking asyrinx—the vocal organ of birds—its only vocalizations are grunts or low hisses.[4] It nests in caves, hollow trees, or thickets. Each year it generally raises two chicks, which it feeds byregurgitation.[5] It has very few naturalpredators.[6] In the United States, the vulture receives legal protection under theMigratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.[7]
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 genusButeo.[8] In some areas of the Caribbean it is known as the "John crow" or "carrion crow."[9][10]
The turkey vulture received itscommon name from the resemblance of the adult's bald red head and darkplumage to that of the malewild turkey, while the name "vulture" is derived from theLatin wordvulturus, meaning "tearer", and is a reference to its feeding habits.[11] The wordbuzzard is used by North Americans to refer to this bird, yet in the Old World that term refers to members of the genusButeo.[12] The turkey vulture was first formally described byCarl Linnaeus asVultur aura in his 175810th edition ofSystema Naturae, and characterised as "V. fuscogriseus, remigibus nigris, rostro albo" ("brown-gray vulture, with black wing flight feathers and a white beak").[13] It is a member of the family Cathartidae, along with the other six species of New World vultures, and included in the genusCathartes, along with thegreater yellow-headed vulture and thelesser yellow-headed vulture. Like other New World vultures, the turkey vulture has adiploid chromosome number of 80.[14]
Thetaxonomic placement of the turkey vulture and the remaining six species ofNew World vultures has been in flux.[15] Though both are similar in appearance and have similarecological roles, the New World andOld 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 tostorks.[16] More recent authorities maintained their overall position in the orderAccipitiformes along with the Old World vultures[17] or place them in their own order,Cathartiformes.[18]
However, recent genetic studies indicate that neither New World nor Old World vultures are close tofalcons, nor are New World vultures close to storks.[19] Both arebasal members of the cladeAfroaves,[20] with Old World vultures comprising several groups within the familyAccipitridae, also containing eagles, kites, and hawks,[21][22] while New World vultures in Cathartiformes are asister group toAccipitriformes[20] (containing theosprey andsecretarybird along with Accipitridae[22]).
There are five subspecies of turkey vulture:
| Image | Subspecies | Description | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | C. a. auraLinnaeus, 1758, theAntillean turkey vulture. | The nominate subspecies. This subspecies occasionally overlaps its range with other subspecies. It is the smallest of the subspecies, but is nearly indistinguishable fromC. a. meridionalis in color.[23] | It is found fromMexico south throughSouth America and theGreater Antilles. |
_(cropped).jpg) | C. a. jotaMolina, GI 1782, theChilean turkey vulture | Larger, browner, and slightly paler thanC. a. ruficollis. The secondary feathers and wing coverts may have gray margins.[24] | It is found all the way to theAndes inColombia, all the way to southern Argentina.[25] |
 | C. a. meridionalisSwann, 1921, thewestern turkey vulture, is a synonym forC. a. teter. | C. a. teter was identified as a subspecies by Friedman in 1933, but in 1964Alexander Wetmore separated the western birds, which took the namemeridionalis, which was applied earlier to a migrant fromSouth America. | It breeds from southernManitoba, southernBritish Columbia, centralAlberta andSaskatchewan south to Baja California, south-central Arizona, southeasternNew Mexico, and south-central Texas.[26] It is the most migratory subspecies, migrating as far as South America, where it overlaps the range of the smallerC. a. aura. It differs from the eastern turkey vulture in color, as the edges of the lesser wing coverts are darker brown and narrower.[23] |
 | C. a. ruficollis Spix, 1824, thetropical turkey vulture | It is darker and more black thanC. a. aura, with brown wing edgings which are narrower or absent altogether.[27] The head and neck are dull red with yellow-white or green-white markings. Adults generally have a pale yellow patch on the crown of the head.[24] | Found inPanama south throughUruguay andArgentina. It is also found on the island ofTrinidad.[27] |
.jpg) | C. a. septentrionalisWied-Neuwied, 1839 is known as theeastern turkey vulture | The eastern and western turkey vultures differ in tail and wing proportions. It is less migratory thanC. a. meridionalis and rarely migrates to areas south of the United States.[23] | It ranges from southeasternCanada south through the easternUnited States. |
A large bird, it has a wingspan of 160–183 cm (63–72 in), a length of 62–81 cm (24–32 in), and weight of 0.8 to 2.41 kg (1.8 to 5.3 lb).[28][29][30][31] Birds in the northern limit of the species' range average larger in size than the vulture from theneotropics. 124 birds fromFlorida averaged 2 kg (4.4 lb) while 65 and 130 birds fromVenezuela were found to average 1.22 and 1.45 kg (2.7 and 3.2 lb), respectively.[32][33][34] It displays minimalsexual dimorphism; sexes are identical in plumage and in coloration, and are similar in size.[35] The body feathers are mostly brownish-black, but theflight feathers on the wings appear to be silvery-gray beneath, contrasting with the darker wing linings.[28] The adult's head is small in proportion to its body and is red in color with few to no feathers. It also has a relatively short, hooked, ivory-colored beak.[36] 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 ofeyelashes on the upper lid and two rows on the lower lid.[37]
The two front toes of the foot are long and have small webs at their bases.[38] Tracks are large, between 9.5 and 14 cm (3.7 and 5.5 in) in length and 8.2 and 10.2 cm (3.2 and 4.0 in) in width, both measurements including claw marks. Toes are arranged in the classic,anisodactyl pattern.[39] The feet are flat, relatively weak, and poorly adapted to grasping; the talons are also not designed for grasping, as they are relatively blunt.[2] In flight, the tail is long and slim. Theblack vulture is relatively shorter-tailed and shorter-winged, which makes it appear rather smaller in flight than the turkey vulture, although the body masses of the two species are roughly the same. The nostrils are not divided by a septum, but rather are perforate; from the side one can see through the beak.[40] It undergoes amolt in late winter to early spring. It is a gradual molt, which lasts until early autumn.[5] The immature bird has a gray head with a black beak tip; the colors change to those of the adult as the bird matures.[41]
Captive longevity is not well known. As of 2025, there is one captive bird which is 51 years[42] old: a male named Lord Richard that lives at theLindsay Wildlife Experience inWalnut Creek, California. Lord Richard hatched in 1974 atRandall Museum inSan Francisco and arrived at Lindsay Wildlife later that year.[43] 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 theUniversity of Wisconsin. He later became an education ambassador at Carpenter Nature Center inHastings, Minnesota, and in 1993 he joined the education department of theUniversity of Minnesota's Raptor Center. He remained their only educational vulture until his death in 2022.[44]
The oldest wild captured banded bird was 16 years old.[3]
Leucistic (sometimes mistakenly called "albino") turkey vultures are sometimes seen.[45][46]
Like most other vultures, the turkey vulture has very few vocalization capabilities. Because it lacks asyrinx, it can only utter hisses and grunts.[4]
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_in_flight_Maipo.jpg)
The turkey vulture has a large range, with an estimated global occurrence of 28,000,000 km2 (11,000,000 sq mi). It is the most widely distributed vulture in the Americas and rivals its cousin the black vulture as the most abundant raptorial bird worldwide.[2] Its global population is estimated to be 18,000,000 individuals.[1][47] It is found in open and semi-open areas throughout theAmericas from southern Canada toCape Horn. It is a permanent resident in the southern United States, though northern birds maymigrate as far south as South America.[3] The turkey vulture is widespread over nearly all American habitats but they tend to show particular habitat preferences.[45] It is most commonly found in relatively open areas whichjuxtapose withwoodland, which are important both for nesting and roosting. Furthermore, turkey vultures in North America generally avoid enclosed forested areas that may hamper their ability to take flight and tend to often favor hill or low mountainous areas that make catching flight easier with less effort.[28][48] This species can be seen overopen country, includinggrasslands but are often absent from completely treeless areas such as some parts of theprairies orGreat Plains.[45][49] Additionally, they may adapt totropical and subtropical forests,shrublands,deserts andsemi-desert,wetlands andfoothills.[1][45][50] Evidence indicatesagricultural land is key habitat for turkey vultures, mainlypastureland or other low-input farmland for foraging and roosting but they tend to only occur ephemerally as flyovers around row-crop type agriculture.[51][52][53] 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.[54][55]
This bird with its crow-like aspect gave foot to the naming of theQuebrada de los Cuervos (Crows Ravine) inUruguay, where they dwell together with the lesser yellow-headed vulture and the black vulture.[56]
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.[5] The turkey vulture lowers its night-time body temperature by about 6 °C or 11 °F to 34 °C (93 °F), becoming slightlyhypothermic.[38]
This vulture is often seen standing in a spread-winged orhoraltic 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, byOld World vultures, and bystorks.[6] Like storks, the turkey vulture often defecates on its own legs, using the evaporation of the water in the feces and/or urine to cool itself, a process known asurohidrosis.[57] It cools the blood vessels in the unfeatheredtarsi and feet, and causes whiteuric acid to streak the legs.[58]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 togreat horned owls,golden eagles,bald eagles and potentiallyred-tailed hawks, while eggs and nestlings may be preyed on bymammals such asraccoons andopossums.[6][29][59][60][61]Foxes can occasionally ambush an adult, but species that can climb are more likely to breach and predate nests than adults, whiledogs may sometimes kill a turkey vulture as well.[62] Its primary form of defense is regurgitating semi-digested meat, a foul-smelling substance, which deters most creatures intent on raiding a vulture nest.[5] 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 itscrop of a heavy, undigested meal to take flight to flee from a potential predator.[36] Its life expectancy in the wild ranges upward of 16 years, with a captive life span of over 45 years being possible.[63][64][65]
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.[36] While soaring, the turkey vulture holds its wings in a shallowV-shape and often tips from side to side, frequently causing the gray flight feathers to appear silvery as they catch the light. The flight of the turkey vulture is an example of static soaring flight, in which it flaps its wings very infrequently, and takes advantage of risingthermals to stay soaring.[66]
The breeding season of the turkey vulture varies according to latitude.[67] In the southern United States, it commences in March, peaks in April to May, and continues into June.[68] In more northerly latitudes, the season starts later and extends into August.[69] 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.[50]
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.[50] Both parents incubate, and the young hatch after 30 to 40 days. Chicks arealtricial, or helpless at birth. Both adults feed the chicks byregurgitating food for them, and care for them for 10 to 11 weeks. When adults are threatened while nesting, they may flee, or they may regurgitate on the intruder or feign death.[5] If the chicks are threatened in the nest, they defend themselves by hissing and regurgitating.[50] The young fledge at about nine to ten weeks. Family groups remain together until fall.[50]
The turkey vulture feeds primarily on a wide variety ofcarrion, from small mammals (such asmice andshrews) to large grazers (such asungulates), preferring those recently dead, and avoiding carcasses that have reached the point ofputrefaction.[70] They may rarely feed on plant matter, shoreline vegetation, pumpkin, grape, juniper, coconut and other crops, live frogs, live insects and otherinvertebrates.[50][71][70] In South America, turkey vultures have been photographed feeding on the fruits of the introducedoil palm.[72][73][74] 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.[75][76][77][78] Turkey vultures have also been observed eating coyote, sea lion and domestic animal dung.[70] The turkey vulture can often be seen along roadsides feeding onroadkill, or near bodies of water, feeding on washed-up fish.[3] They also will feed on fish, tadpoles or insects that have become stranded in shallow water.[5][70] It sometimes comes to rubbish dumps, but in general, is a rather different kind of scavenger from the black vulture.[78] Like other vultures, it plays an important role in theecosystem by disposing of carrion, which would otherwise be a breeding ground for disease.[79]
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The turkey vulture forages by smell, an ability that is uncommon in the avian world, often flying low to the ground to pick up the scent ofethyl mercaptan, a gas produced by the beginnings of decay in dead animals.[6] Theolfactory lobe of itsbrain, responsible for processing smells, is particularly large compared to that of other animals.[6] This heightened ability to detect odors allows it to search for carrion below theforest canopy.King vultures,black vultures, andcondors, which lack the ability to smell carrion at long distances, follow turkey vultures to carcasses. While other members of familyCathartidae were once believed to have no sense of smell,[80][81] newer research suggests they are able to smell at short distances.[82][83] 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.[6] It displaces the yellow-headed vultures from carcasses due to its larger size,[79] 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 ofmutual dependence between species.[84] Black vultures tend to be more aggressive and often displace turkey vultures which appear to be intimidated especially by thefeeding 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.[85][86] 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.[87] It is further subservient to large hawks such asred-tailed hawks,Harris's hawks andButeogallus black hawks, as well as to large falcons likeperegrine falcons andcrested 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 sympatriceagles are also dominant, withbald eagles confirmed to easily dominate turkey vultures in Florida.[45][87][88][89] However, in the tropicsSwainson's hawks andyellow-headed caracara (as well as lesser yellow-headed vultures) appear to be subservient to turkey vultures.[45][90] Furthermore, turkey vultures are dominant overcrows at carrion, but not overcommon ravens.[91]
The turkey vulture is sometimes accused of carryinganthrax orhog cholera, both livestock diseases, on its feet or bill by cattle ranchers and is therefore occasionally perceived as a threat.[45] However, the virus that causes hog cholera is destroyed when it passes through the turkey vulture's digestive tract.[36] This species also may be perceived as a threat by farmers due to the similar black vulture's tendency to attack and kill newborn cattle. The turkey vulture does not kill live animals but will mix with flocks of black vultures and will scavenge what they leave behind. Nonetheless, its appearance at a location where a calf has been killed gives the incorrect impression that the turkey vulture represents a danger to calves.[92] The droppings produced by turkey vultures and other vultures can harm or kill trees and other vegetation.[93] In captivity, it can be fed fresh meat, and younger birds will gorge themselves if given the opportunity.[36]
The turkey vulture species receives special legal protections under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 in theUnited States,[7] by the Convention for the Protection of Migratory Birds inCanada,[94] and by the Convention for the Protection of Migratory Birds and Game Mammals inMexico.[94] In the United States it is illegal to take, kill, or possess turkey vultures, their eggs, and any body parts including but not limited to their feathers except under permit; violation of the law is punishable by a fine of up to $100,000 for individuals or $200,000 for organizations, and/or a prison term of 1 year.[95] It is listed as a species ofleast concern by theIUCN 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.[1]
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