The turkey vulture is 2.1-2.7 feet in length (0.64-0.82 m) with a wingspan of 5-6 feet (1.5-1.8 m).
It has a long, rounded tail; a blackish-brown body; and a featherless, wrinkled, small red head. It has short, thick legs; weak feet; and a relatively weak, short hooked bill.
Males and females look alike, but the female is slightly larger.
The turkey vulture is found in deciduous forests and woodlands. It is often seen flying over open fields, farmland, and clearings, looking for carrion (dead animals).
At night, turkey vultures gather in groups and roost in trees.
The turkey vulture is a scavenger. It only eats carrion or meat from dead animals.
It soars over the land looking for dead animals. It flies at low altitudes with its wings at a V-shaped angle called a dihedral.
As it flies, it rocks from side to side instead of flapping its wings. This saves energy and allows the turkey vulture to stay in the air longer. It also glides on thermals or updrafts of air.
The turkey vulture has excellent eyesight and a keen sense of smell that helps it locate rotting meat. Its sense of smell is a unique adaptation for a bird.
Because the turkey vulture doesn’t hunt and kill its food, its legs and claws are weaker than those of most birds. The turkey vulture, unlike the black vulture, usually hunts for food alone.
The female turkey vulture lays 1-2 eggs under a bush, in a hollow log, under large rocks, or in a cave. Both the male and the female incubate the eggs for 28 days.
Both parents feed the chicks regurgitated food. The chicks fledge when they are 9-10 weeks old. The turkey vulture has a lifespan of 15-20 years in the wild. In captivity, it can live to be 25-30 years old.
The turkey vulture urinates on its legs. The urine cools the vulture, and the acids in the urine kill any bacteria that ended up on the vulture’s legs when it was stepping in carcasses.
The turkey vulture plays an important role in its ecosystem by removing dead animals that could be carrying diseases.
The turkey vulture’s bald head helps keep dead meat, along with the bacteria it carries, from collecting in the vulture’s feathers while it is digging into an animal carcass.
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The turkey vulture breeds throughout New Hampshire. It migrates south in the fall.
The turkey vulture breeds from southern Canada south through most of the United States. Some populations migrate south in the fall. The turkey vulture is also found in Central and South America.
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