turkey vultures
Red-headed scavengers aloft
Turkey vultures are large scavenging birds found throughout the Americas, named for their bald red heads resembling wild turkeys.
They soar on thermal currents searching for carrion, which they locate primarily by smell—unusual among birds.
Turkey vultures circled over the field.
Often shortened to just *vultures* in casual speech.
- roadkillVehicle-struck animal remains
- buzzardSoaring carrion-eating raptor
- scavengerSeeker of refuse
- rotOrganic breakdown process
- feathersBird's lightweight covering
bird of prey · soaring · carrion · roosting · bald · thermal currents · glides · wake · kettle · beak · mortality · bones · death spiral · raptor · decay · wing span · circling · perch
- bird strikesbird strike, pyrotechnics, wildlife management, gulls, starlings
- Driftless Regionlimestone bluffs, bluffs, river valleys, trout streams, Sparta