Vulture (Turkey)

The Turkey Vulture is one of North America's largest birds of prey. It reaches a length of 32 inches with a wing span of 6 feet. Its colour is brown-black with a featherless, red head, white bill, and yellow feet among mature adults.

In flight, the Turkey Vulture rocks from side to side, rarely flapping its wings which are held at a V-angle called a dihedral. Silver-grey flight feathers look lighter than the black lining feathers of the under wing.

There is an important purpose to the vulture's bald head. When the vulture is eating carrion, it must often stick its head inside the carcass to reach the meat. A feathery head would capture unwanted pieces of the vulture's meal, along with all the bacteria it hosts. After mealtime, the turkey vulture perches in the heat of the sun. Here, whatever has managed to cling to the few bits of fuzz on their head will be baked off once and for all.






Photographed at Phoenix Zoo
Photographed in the wild, Kissimmee,FL