Turkey Vulture

Cathartes aura

A turkey vulture, Cathartes aura, is a widespread New World vulture found from southern Canada through much of South America. Adults have long dark wings held in a shallow V while soaring, a small bare red head, and a rocking flight style that helps distinguish them from eagles and hawks. Unlike many raptors, they locate much of their food by smell, tracking the gases released from fresh carrion. Their weak feet are adapted for walking rather than grasping prey, and the bare head helps keep feathers cleaner while feeding inside carcasses.

These birds are protected wildlife in many countries and are not suitable pets or falconry birds. Human care is mainly through licensed rehabilitation, sanctuary placement for nonreleasable individuals, and zoo education programs. Facilities provide high perches, outdoor flight space, and a carnivore diet that mimics carrion without exposing birds to toxins or unsafe decomposition. Field conservation concerns include vehicle strikes at roadkill, lead fragments in carcasses, electrocution, and roost disturbance. Because turkey vultures gather communally, managers sometimes use nonlethal deterrents when large roosts conflict with buildings or neighborhoods.