February 10 – My Nature Journal

Turkey Vulture

Cathartes aura

Turkey Vultures live throughout the United States, Central America, and South America. Widespread and abundant, I see these birds soaring in wide, smooth circles high in the air almost every day.

Turkey Vultures ride thermals for long hours with their outstretched wings held uplifted in a shallow V and use their acute sense of smell to detect dead and rotting animals on the ground.

Despite their abundance, I was surprised to see this Turkey Vulture standing so completely out in the open.

Turkey Vultures scavenge for food alone and find their food by smell. So they can zero in on small or hidden carcasses like those found in forested or brushy areas. And because Turkey Vultures often get bullied off their finds by their Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus) cousins, Turkey Vultures tend to be more secretive while on the ground.

When I approached, this bird was feeding on some kind of roadkill. The dead animal was already pretty decomposed and nearly fully consumed so I couldn’t identify it. The tattered remnants looked too large to be a squirrel but identifying the vulture’s meal beyond that was impossible. It could have been a possum, a fox, or even a domestic cat but there was just no way to tell without investigating a lot closer.

And if you’ve never seen a Turkey Vulture on the ground in real life, you’ll know that these are very large birds. Very large, very dirty, very stinky birds. Frankly I had no desire to get closer; I could smell this vulture and its rotting meal from across the street.