Turkey Vulture - Ross Feldner

This large scavenger is the most widespread of the New World vultures with territory that stretches from southern Canada to the southern tip of South America.

The Turkey Vulture is a scavenger feeding almost exclusively on carrion. It finds its food using its keen eyes and incredibly well developed sense of smell. That enables them to detect the gasses from dead animals even in the early stages of decay. The part of their brain that detects odors is unusually large allowing them to find dead animals from great heights.

You will usually see them riding thermals, flapping their wings infrequently.

They can digest almost anything because their stomach acid is so powerful. This enables them to eat carcasses tainted with rabies, anthrax and tuberculoisis and not get sick! They play an important role in the health of our ecosystems by eating carrion.

Without them, carcasses would pile up and diseases would spread. Turkey Vultures occasionally have to poke their heads deep into the cavities of carcasses when dining. This is where having a bald head is helpful, otherwise pieces of flesh, blood, or other fluids could get trapped on head feathers where they can’t preen.