Species

Turkey vulture

Cathartes aura

A red-headed vulture that finds carrion by smell, rocking on uptilted wings over every Georgia highway.

Photo Frank Schulenburg (opens in a new tab) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab)

Misconceptions

At a glance

Size: About 64 to 81 cm long; wingspan about 1.6 to 1.8 m
Weight: About 0.8 to 2.3 kg
Habitat: Open country, farms, woods and roadsides
Diet: Carrion
In Georgia: Common all year; more numerous in winter when northern birds arrive
Voice: Hisses and grunts
Rabies vector: No

Identification

Key marks: Dark brown-black; small, bare red head; wings held in a shallow V; silvery flight feathers giving a two-toned look from below; rocks as it soars
Told apart from: Black vulture, which has a grey head, short tail and flaps more
Told apart from: Bald eagle, which holds its wings flat and has a large head
Where to look: Soaring low over roads and fields

Behaviour

Turkey vultures have one of the best senses of smell of any bird, able to detect the gas given off by a carcass hidden under trees. They soar for hours with barely a wingbeat.

Why they matter

By finding carcasses by smell, turkey vultures clean up dead animals in woods and fields that other scavengers would miss. Their digestive system destroys dangerous bacteria, making them one of the most important disease-control animals there is.

Reproduction and lifecycle

Nest — No nest; eggs laid on bare ground in a cave, hollow log or abandoned building
Eggs — Usually two
Incubation — About 30 to 40 days
Chicks — Fed by both parents
Flight — At about 60 to 80 days
Lifespan — Wild birds over twenty years are recorded

Living around people

Roosting vultures on towers and trees are harmless; they leave each morning to forage.
Lead fragments in carcasses shot with lead ammunition poison vultures.

Misconceptions

Vultures kill animals. Turkey vultures eat only animals that are already dead.
A vulture spreading its wings is threatening. It is warming itself and drying its feathers in the sun.

Related species

Seasonal activity

When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.

Breeding and active nests by month for this species
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Breeding	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Active nests	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Notes	Wintering birds join residents	Roosts	Pairs forming	Nesting	Chicks	Chicks	Young fledging	Young flying	Migrants passing	Migrants	Northern birds arriving	Roosts

Where it lives

Recorded in 89 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.

Canada

If you found one

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