turkey vulture
Red-headed carrion bird
A turkey vulture is a large North American scavenger bird with a bald red head, dark plumage, and a wingspan reaching six feet.
The name comes from its resemblance to a wild turkey.
Turkey vultures soar on thermals while searching for carrion, detecting dead animals by smell—unusual among birds.
Turkey vultures circled over the field.
Putrefying animal remains
- roadkillVehicle-struck animal remains
- carcassSlaughtered animal's body
- decayGradual organic breakdown
- decompositionBreakdown into simpler parts
cleanup crew · sanitation · putrefaction · rotting · detritus · opportunistic · foraging · feasting
Warm air columns
- glidingEngineless aerial movement
- updraftsAir moving skyward
- circlingMoving around a center
- effortlessRequiring no strain
wingspan · airborne · drift · altitude · ascending · kettling · hovering · sky
Scalp lacking hair
- featherlessLacking avian covering
- wrinkledHaving surface folds
- hooked beakBent bird mouthpart
- hunchedBent at spine
Organism's natural environment
- conservationPreventing waste or loss
- ornithologyScientific study of birds
- natureInherent quality or disposition
- wildernessUncultivated, uninhabited natural region
fauna · species · migration · ecology · environment · naturalist · birdwatching · North America
carrion
Putrefying animal remains
decomposition · cleanup crew · sanitation · putrefaction · rotting · detritus · opportunistic · foraging · feasting · circle of life
thermals
Warm air columns
effortless · wingspan · airborne · drift · altitude · ascending · kettling · hovering · sky · elevation
bald head
Scalp lacking hair
- featherlessLacking avian covering
- wrinkledHaving surface folds
- hooked beakBent bird mouthpart
habitat
Organism's natural environment
- conservationPreventing waste or loss
- ornithologyScientific study of birds
- natureInherent quality or disposition
wilderness · fauna · species · migration · ecology · environment · naturalist · birdwatching · North America · South America
keen smell
Acute olfactory ability
- North American wildlifebald eagle, grizzly bear, moose, gray wolf, pronghorn
- Plains wildlifebison, coyote, prairie dog, pronghorn, rattlesnake
- North American Naturebald eagle, American bison, bison, grizzly bear, raccoon
- birds of preybald eagle, golden eagle, hawk, falcon, kestrel
- migratory birdsarctic tern, Canada goose, barn swallow, snow goose, sandhill crane
- raptorseagle, falcon, hawk, owl, osprey
turkey vultureperegrine falcon
High-speed avian predator
golden eagle · red-tailed hawk · bald eagle · osprey · hawk
turkey vultureapex predator
Unpreyed-upon dominant hunter
hummingbird · hunter · songbird · killer · predator