RANGE: North America from southern Canada to South America

HABITAT: Open country with some trees, desert, forest, and jungle

SIZE: LENGTH: 26 32 inches
WINGSPAN: 68-72 inches
WEIGHT: 4-6.5 lbs.

LIFE EXPECTANCY
WILD: Up to 21 years
CAPTIVITY: Unknown

REPRODUCTION: Lay 2-3 eggs from February to June. Eggs are laid on ground in dense shrubbery, in tree stumps, rocks of cliffs, or bare floors in abandoned houses. Both sexes incubate for 38-41 days. Young fledge at 70-80 days and are sometimes fed by parents until the fall.

DIET: Carrion (2-4 days dead) and occasionally will feed on small, dying mammals

BEHAVIOR: Northern and western birds migrate in the winter to southern U.S. through Central and South America. Very social birds, they roost together at night (up to 70 birds in a tree) and will search for food together in groups of 3-12. Will sun themselves by spreading their wings for several minutes before they fly. This activity provides the turkey vulture with vitamin D and also helps them to conserve energy by increasing their body temperature in the winter. Their only natural defense is to project their vomit and can do this up to six feet away. And you think it smelled bad before it went in!

POINTS OF INTEREST: Only raptor to fly with wings extended in a shallow dihedral (V shape). Will soar for long periods without flapping by coasting around thermals. You can see through the nasal passages of this bird and this aids their excellent sense of smell, which is far superior to that of the black vulture's. Are able to eat carrion and contaminated meat due to specialized digestive enzymes and bacteria in their systems. This bird allows its feces to drop straight down onto it own legs and it is believed that the reason for this is to coat their legs with this protective enzyme to prevent transmittance of bacteria through any cuts on their legs or feet. Hatchlings are covered with white fuzz and tend to wander from the nest while the parents are searching for food. People often find these young birds while wandering through the woods and assume they have been abandoned. However when the parents return to the nest they call out to the young and the chicks come running to receive their meal of regurgitated carrion. Immature birds under a year have black beaks but as the bird matures the beak gradually turns white. Another sign of a mature turkey vulture is the red, featherless head. Immature birds have a black head. These birds have very weak feet and don't use their feet for seizing prey. Commonly called a buzzard, this is a misnomer in that a buzzard is a European hawk similar to a red-tailed hawk. It is probable that the first colonists saw the big black birds in the sky and thought they were buzzards like the ones in Europe.

STATUS: Very common birds. In early 1900's the turkey vulture bred only as far north as New Jersey and were considered southern birds. By 1960's they had extended their breeding range to southern Canada. The reason for this is probably the interstate highway system.