Turkey Vulture
The Turkey Vulture is the most common and widespread of the New World vultures. This species nests throughout all of the United States except northern New England. Soaring for hours over woodland and nearby open country, the Turkey Vulture searches for carcasses, locating them at least partly by means of its acute sense of smell. As they soar, these "buzzards" ride on rising columns of warm air called thermals to save energy as they cover miles of territory. The importance of this energy saving is clear from the fact that we seldom see a Turkey Vulture on a windless day, when thermals do not form. Turkey Vultures are valuable for their removal of garbage and disease-causing carrion. At night they often gather in large roosts.

The Turkey Vulture is a eagle-sized blackish bird, usually seen soaring over the countryside. In flight, its long wings are held upward in a wide, shallow V. Its head is small, bare and reddishin color. Similar to the Black Vulture, the Turkey Vulture's wings are narrower and flap less frequently.

The Turkey Vulture breeds from southern British Columbia, central Saskatchewan, Great Lakes and New Hampshire southward. It winters in the Southwest and in the East northward to southern New England. The Turkey Vulture is found mainly in deciduous forests and woodlands, often seen over adjacent farmlands.
Turkey Vulture Range Map

The Turkey Vulture feeds almost entirely on carrion in any state, from fresh to putrid, sighted while soaring over open fields, ridges, roads or any type of clearing. Although partial to carrion of small mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds and fish, it will consume carrion of large animals, gathering quickly after the death of an animal.

The Turkey Vulture does not build a nest. It lays its eggs on the floor of caves, on the ground inside dense shrubs, in hollow logs or stumps, on rocky outcrops or ledges, in swamps, in hollow snags, in old hawk nests or on the floor in abandoned buildings. The eggs are usually well-hidden from view and inaccessible to predators.


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