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Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura Family: Cathartidaee (New World Vultures)  |
Description: Their bodies are mostly covered by dark brown plumage except for paler flight feathers and a naked red head. Their head is said to be brighter during mating season. While soaring overhead, they appear to be black and gray. The undersides of the wings are two-toned. The juvenile, who is not likely to start flying until 9 - 10 weeks old, has a blackish head. Also known as the Turkey Buzzard. In general, a buzzard is a long-winged, long-tailed vulture. They are high altitude gliders, meaning that when they soar they seldom flap their wings. They can remain motionless when facing a stiff breeze, or fly up to 60 miles an hour. Because of their large size, they often have to get a running start and take off into the wind. Oftentimes after feeding on road kills they are hit by cars during take-off. Unlike the eagle, which it resembles from a distance, the Turkey Vulture doesn't kill its prey. It locates its prey using first their acute sense of smell. They can detect very faint traces of rotten flesh from up to one mile away. Then, while circling the area they use sight to pinpoint their meal. Their long, pale yellow beak doesn't have the shape or the strength to tear into tougher fresh carcasses. But they wouldn't be attracted to live or freshly dead meat because fresh meat (like fresh fish) doesn't smell until it begins to rot. Its scientific name, Cathartes aura, means "cleanser" possibly because characteristic of a scavenger, it cleans up rotting carcasses by eating them. Their digestive tract can kill any virus or bacteria in its meals. The fact that its head is bald prevents it's feathers from getting messy while submerged in rotting flesh. They roost in trees tops at night, sometimes in groups as large as 70 - 100 Turkey Vultures. Speaking of smell, the Turkey Vulture defecates (poops) on its feet as a cooling method. |
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Size: 28 inches. Wingspan can be 72 inches or 6 feet. Diet: Rotting carcasses, Habitat: Areas safe from predators, Noise: Grunts and hisses, but they usually are silent. |
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Nesting: Little or no nest is built. The female chooses a location where she can safely conceal her eggs. This is usually on the ground, on a cliff, on gravel, on rotting wood chips or sawdust in logs, stumps, or maybe a hole high in a tree. Range: (March - October/November) On about the second Sunday in March, the town of Hinckley, Ohio celebrates Buzzard Sunday: the Turkey Vultures return to the cliffs where they breed in the spring. Breed from coast to coast dipping up into to the tip of Cape Horn in Canada.
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