Why is it called a turkey vulture?

Its bare red head looks like a wild turkey’s

Why can’t turkey vultures sing?

They have no syrinx, the bird voice box

Where does a turkey vulture lay its eggs?

On the bare floor of a cave or hollow log

Turkey vulture

Cathartes aura

The turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) is a large New World vulture found from southern Canada to Tierra del Fuego. It soars on rising warm air with its wings held in a shallow V and, unusually for a bird, finds much of its food by smell. It eats almost only dead animals, which makes it part of nature’s clean-up crew.

Also known as Turkey buzzard, TV (birders’ nickname), John Crow

Turkey vulture abilities

4× bigger smell centres than a black vulture
Unusually for a bird, a turkey vulture finds much of its food by smell, even under trees where it cannot see the ground.
- Its olfactory bulbs are 4 times larger than a black vulture’s, with twice as many key nerve cells, although its brain is 20% smaller.
- In a tropical forest test, turkey vultures relied almost entirely on smell. They found day-old carcasses well but had trouble with very fresh ones.
- Exactly which smells they follow is still being worked out. A 1986 lab test found they were not especially sensitive to ethanethiol (ethyl mercaptan), a gas often named as their main clue.
- Black vultures have a poor sense of smell and often follow turkey vultures to food.
Size of the smell centres (olfactory bulbs)
Turkey vulture4×
Black vulture1×
Grigg et al. 2017 compared the brains of the two species.
Sources [6, 8, 14, 15, 16]
1.6–2 m wingspan for gliding
Once it is up, a turkey vulture hardly flaps. It glides with its wings raised in a shallow V and rocks from side to side like a tightrope walker.
- The V shape (called a dihedral) helps keep it steady in bumpy air.
- It has a lot of wing for its weight, so it floats easily.
- Low over forest edges, under 50 m up, it can even ride small swirls of turbulent air in a wobbly “contorted soaring”.
- In thin mountain air it simply flies faster to keep enough lift.
Sources [1, 2, 3, 9, 17, 18]
100s of birds in a migrating kettle
Turkey vultures ride thermals, bubbles of warm air rising from sun-warmed ground. They circle up inside one, then glide to the next.
- They wait for the sun to warm the ground before leaving the roost, and rarely migrate early in the morning or late in the afternoon.
- Migrating flocks, called kettles, can hold hundreds of birds. In the right spot you can see thousands pass.
- A turkey vulture wearing a heart-rate logger for 124 hours of flight showed only a small rise in heart rate on long-distance days. Soaring is cheap.
- Satellite tracking of 24 birds over nearly 10 years showed they travel faster where thermals are common.
Sources [1, 3, 7, 19, 20]
2 jobs: drying and warming
On cool or damp mornings a turkey vulture stands with its wings spread wide towards the sun.
- A study at an Arizona roost found wing-spreading went with strong sunshine and was more common when the birds were wet.
- The scientists concluded it helps dry the feathers and balance body temperature. Shaking off parasites seemed unlikely.
- Afterwards the birds often set off once the sun has made thermals.
Sources [7, 10]
76 kinds of gut bacteria (528 on the face)
Its gut is a tough filter: a 2014 DNA study found that only a few kinds of microbes survive inside.
- Scientists sampled the faces and guts of 50 turkey and black vultures.
- The face carried about 528 kinds of bacteria, the gut only about 76.
- Food DNA that was easy to find on the face was completely broken down in most guts.
- Missouri’s conservation department says their immune systems protect them from botulism and salmonella on carrion.
Kinds of bacteria per vulture (average)
Gut≈76
Face skin≈528
Roggenbuck et al. 2014, 50 turkey and black vultures.
Sources [7, 11]
2 bare parts: head and legsStill debated
Bare skin on the head and legs may help a turkey vulture lose heat, and on hot days it wets its legs to cool down.
- Why vultures are bald is still debated. Staying clean while feeding is one idea; helping control body temperature is another.
- In hot weather it pees on its own legs. As the liquid dries, it cools them. Scientists call this urohidrosis.
- New World vultures, condors, storks, gannets and boobies all do this. It works only for birds that can drink often.
- That is why their pink legs often look white-streaked.
Sources [3, 4, 5, 7, 13]
≈90% of test food cleared by vultures
By eating dead animals, turkey vultures tidy up the countryside and recycle food that would otherwise rot.
- In a tropical forest test, turkey and black vultures removed about 90% of the food put out for them.
- They tended to reject meat that was already rotten.
- They mainly eat dead mammals, plus dead reptiles, amphibians, birds and fish.
- Clearing away carcasses helps limit the spread of some diseases.
Sources [3, 7, 14]
0.85–2 kg to haul off the ground
Taking off is the hard part. A turkey vulture needs deep, heavy wingbeats to get into the air.
- At take-off its wingbeats are deep and slow.
- Once it is above the trees, it rarely flaps again.
- That is why vultures wait at the roost until the sun has warmed the ground and made thermals.
Sources [1, 2, 7, 9]

Tap a pin on the model or a part below.

Bare red skin, almost no feathers
- Adults have a bare red head with few or no feathers. It looks like a wild turkey’s head, which is how the bird got its name.
- Young birds have grey heads and dark bills.
- A bare head stays cleaner when the bird feeds. Scientists also study whether bare skin helps it control its temperature.
Sources [1, 2, 3, 4]
4× bigger smell centres than a black vulture
- New World vultures have long, horizontal nostrils with a space between them.
- Behind them sits an amazing smell system: the turkey vulture’s olfactory bulbs, the brain’s smell centres, are 4 times larger than a black vulture’s.
- They are the largest olfactory bulbs of any bird measured so far.
Sources [5, 6]
- Adults have a pale, bone-coloured bill.
- It eats almost only dead animals: mostly mammals, but also reptiles, amphibians, birds and fish.
- Unlike the black vulture, it almost never takes live prey.
Sources [1, 7, 8]
Hiss no syrinx, no song
- It has no syrinx, the voice box of birds, so it cannot sing or call. It can only hiss and grunt.
- Most of its sounds are used to warn off predators.
Sources [5, 7, 9]
1.6–2 m wingspan
- The wingspan is about 1.6–2 m, about the height of a tall adult.
- From below, the wings look two-toned: black at the front, silvery grey at the back.
- It has a lot of wing for its weight (light wing loading), so it floats easily on rising air.
- It soars with its wings raised in a shallow V and often rocks from side to side.
Sources [1, 2, 3, 9]
0.85–2 kg body weight
- Its body feathers are dark blackish-brown. Males and females look alike.
- On many mornings it spreads its wings in the sun to dry its feathers and warm up.
- For all that wing, it weighs only about 0.85–2 kg.
Sources [1, 9, 10]
76 kinds of gut bacteria (528 on the face)
- A 2014 study of 50 turkey and black vultures found about 76 kinds of bacteria in the gut, against about 528 on the face.
- DNA from the food was completely broken down in most of the guts, so the gut works like a very tough filter.
- The microbes that do live there, such as Clostridia and Fusobacteria, make many other animals ill.
- Scientists have tested whether germs survive a trip through a vulture’s gut since the 1970s, starting with an African white-backed vulture.
Sources [11, 12]
- The legs and feet are pink but often stained white.
- On hot days it pees on its own legs. As the liquid dries, it cools the bare skin. Scientists call this urohidrosis.
- New World vulture feet are weak and not made for grasping, unlike an eagle’s.
Sources [3, 5, 7, 13]
- It has a longish tail for a vulture.
- The black vulture has a shorter tail and white patches near its wingtips, an easy way to tell them apart in the sky.
Sources [1, 7]

Real turkey vultures

Photos from Wikimedia Commons. Some of them can repaint the 3D model.

AdultDark brown-black body, silvery-grey undersides to the flight feathers, a bare red head and a pale, bone-coloured bill.Males and females look alikeSoaring over Viñales, Cuba. Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0
AdultDark brown-black body, silvery-grey undersides to the flight feathers, a bare red head and a pale, bone-coloured bill.Males and females look alikePerched in a tree in Michigan, USA. Photo: Dwight Burdette, CC BY 3.0
Sunning poseAn adult standing with its wings spread wide, often on a perch in the morning sun.Dries the feathers and warms the bird upThe sunning pose, Santa Rosa, California. Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
Sunning poseAn adult standing with its wings spread wide, often on a perch in the morning sun.Dries the feathers and warms the bird upWings open to dry and warm up. Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
JuvenileLike an adult, but with a grey head and a dark bill.Young birds after they leave the nestA juvenile over the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Photo: Gregory "Slobirdr" Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0
JuvenileLike an adult, but with a grey head and a dark bill.Young birds after they leave the nestYoungsters at Bears Den Overlook, Virginia. Photo: Strawser, CC BY-SA 3.0
Waiting in a dead tree before take-off, Morro Bay, CaliforniaPhoto: Joyce Cory (docentjoyce), CC BY 2.0
Riding rising air together in Quebec, CanadaPhoto: Cephas, CC BY-SA 3.0
Black vultureA cousin in the same family: black with a bare, grey-black head, a shorter tail and white patches near the wingtips.Finds food by sight and by following turkey vulturesCousin: a black vulture in Cartagena, Colombia. Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0

Turkey vulture by the numbers

Measured by scientists, conservation groups and bird banders.

Weight: 0.85–2 kg; depends on the subspecies⁠[9, 3]
Wingspan: 1.6–2 m; tip to tip; black vulture 1.37–1.52 m⁠[9, 3, 21]; Turkey vulture1.83 mBlack vulture1.52 m
Length: 64–81 cm; bill to tail tip⁠[9, 2]
Eggs: 1–3; usually 2, laid without a nest⁠[2, 9]
Incubation: 30–41 days; both parents take turns⁠[9, 2]
First flight: 70–80 days; independent about a week later⁠[9]
Oldest known: 16 yr 10 mo; a wild bird with a leg band⁠[9]
Roost size: Several hundred; birds sleeping together, sometimes with black vultures⁠[9, 1]
Smell centres: 4×; larger than a black vulture’s; Twice as many key nerve cells, in a brain 20% smaller⁠[6]
Height range: >3,000 m; of elevation where it lives, and it flies higher still⁠[18]

Turkey vulture myths and facts

Tap Myth or Fact for each claim, then check the answer.

0 of 8 answered

“All vultures belong to one family of birds.”
“Turkey vultures can find food by smell.”
“Vultures like their meat as rotten as possible.”
“Gas engineers found leaks by watching for circling turkey vultures.”
“Turkey vultures pee on their legs to keep cool.”
“Turkey vultures often attack live farm animals.”
“Turkey vultures cannot sing.”
“Vultures spread disease by eating dead animals.”

Turkey vulture records

Superlatives and record holders, each checked against its source.

Biggest smell centres of any bird
4× a black vulture
Turkey vulture
the largest olfactory bulbs among the birds measured, in size and for its brain size⁠[6]
Most migratory vulture
Kettles of 100s
Turkey vulture
northern birds fly south to Mexico, Central America and the coastal US for winter⁠[1, 3]
Most widespread vulture
Canada → Tierra del Fuego
Turkey vulture
the widest range of any vulture species in the world⁠[6, 9, 3]
Oldest known wild turkey vulture
16 yr 10 mo
A banded bird
identified by its numbered leg band⁠[9]
Biggest sleepovers
Several hundred
Communal roosts
birds in one roost, sometimes mixed with black vultures⁠[9, 1]
Up and down the mountains
>3,000 m
Turkey vulture
elevation range it lives across; air at the top is up to 27% thinner⁠[18]

A year in the life of a turkey vulture

From the morning sunbathe to the long trip south, for a turkey vulture from the north of the range.

Every morning
Sun first
Birds leave the roost for sunny perches, spread their wings and wait for the sun to warm the ground and make thermals.⁠[7, 10]
Breeding season
Circle dance
Several birds hop around a circle on the ground with wings partly spread. In the air, one bird follows another, flapping and diving.⁠[9, 2]
Egg time
No nest needed
Usually 2 eggs are laid on the bare floor of a cave, rock crevice, hollow log or tree. Turkey vultures build no nest.⁠[2, 9, 5]
30–41 days
Taking turns
Both parents keep the eggs warm until they hatch.⁠[9, 2]
Nestling weeks
Fed by mum and dad
Parents feed the chicks food brought back up from their own stomachs. If a predator comes close, nestlings defend themselves by throwing up.⁠[3, 1]
70–80 days
First flight
The young fledge and become independent about a week later. They have grey heads and dark bills at first.⁠[9, 1]
Autumn
Heading south
Northern birds migrate in kettles of up to hundreds, soaring from thermal to thermal in the middle of the day.⁠[1, 3]
Winter
Warm-country roosts
They spend winter in Mexico, Central America and the coastal US, often roosting by the hundreds with black vultures.⁠[3, 1]

Turkey vulture vs black vulture vs griffon vulture

Turkey and black vultures are cousins. The griffon only looks similar: it is an Old World vulture, related to eagles.

Turkey vulture vs black vulture vs griffon vulture
	Turkey vulture	Black vulture	Griffon vulture
Scientific name⁠[22, 23, 24]	Cathartes aura	Coragyps atratus	Gyps fulvus
Family⁠[7, 16, 5]	New World vultures (Cathartidae)	New World vultures (Cathartidae)	Old World vultures, with eagles and hawks (Accipitridae)
Lives in⁠[9, 3, 25, 8, 5]	Southern Canada to Tierra del Fuego	Eastern North America to most of South America	Europe, Africa and Asia
Finds food by⁠[6, 8, 16]	Smell and sight	Sight, and following turkey vultures	Sight
Nest⁠[2, 9, 16, 5]	None: eggs on a cave floor, in a hollow log or tree	None: dark nooks, even old buildings	A stick nest on a ledge or in a tree
Voice⁠[7, 5]	Hisses and grunts (no syrinx)	Hisses and grunts	Noisy at carcasses: grunts, croaks, screeches
Feet⁠[5]	Weak, not for grasping	Weak, not for grasping	Stronger feet
IUCN status⁠[22, 23, 24]	Least Concern	Least Concern	Least Concern

Old and New World vultures evolved their bald heads and carrion diets separately, a case of convergent evolution.

Are turkey vultures endangered?

No. Turkey vultures are common and widespread. Lead is the main worry scientists have found.

IUCN Red List

Least Concern (LC)

Population increasing

Common from southern Canada to Tierra del Fuego, and its range has been spreading north.⁠[22, 9, 3]

IUCN Red List (BirdLife International)

Threats

Lead108 of 108
Every turkey and black vulture tested in eastern North America showed long-term lead exposure in its bones. Sources included lead ammunition in carcasses, old petrol, coal power plants and zinc smelting.⁠[25, 7]
Poisoned carcasses
Around the world, vultures die when people poison carcasses to kill predators that attack livestock.⁠[5]

What’s helping

Protected by law
In the US, turkey and black vultures are on the official list of birds protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.⁠[26]
Lead-free ammunition
Ammunition is one of the lead sources scientists traced in vultures, so lead-free ammunition removes part of the problem.⁠[25, 7]
Counting every autumn
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Pennsylvania has counted migrating birds of prey, including turkey vultures, every autumn since 1934.⁠[1]

Other vultures

Black vultureLeast Concern
Also common. It often follows turkey vultures to food and sometimes kills newborn livestock.⁠[23, 8]
Griffon vultureLeast Concern
An Old World vulture. Many Old World vultures elsewhere are in serious trouble, and groups such as the Peregrine Fund work to save them.⁠[24, 3]

Turkey vulture quiz

12 questions. Every answer is somewhere on this page.

Question 1 of 12Score 0

How does a turkey vulture find food hidden under trees?

Turkey vulture field notes

Diet, food web, safety and badges from the Snappit field guide.

Diet & Feeding

Vultures are nature's clean-up crew, eating mostly dead animals to keep ecosystems healthy.

Primary Foods

Carrion (dead animals)
Dead mammals
Dead reptiles
Dead fish
Foraging Method: Scavenging

Ecological connections

White-tailed DeerEats
Eats deer carcasses, which helps limit the spread of some diseases.
CattleEats
Feeds on dead livestock, benefiting agricultural areas.

Safety

Danger 1/5 · Very low

Vultures are not dangerous to people, but watch them from a distance and never touch one. If you find a hurt bird, tell an adult.

Traits

Collections

Birds

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Cathartidae
Genus: Cathartes

Sources for these turkey vulture facts

26 studies and references · checked Oct 16, 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

How to identify Turkey vulture?

Compare the silhouette, bill shape, tail length, wing bars and markings around the eyes. The same small brown bird at your feeder can look quite different in breeding plumage, winter plumage or its first year. Bird Identifier: upload a photo and compare the visible details.

How long is Turkey vulture?

64-81 cm

What is Turkey vulture's wingspan?

160-200 cm

How much does Turkey vulture weigh?

0.85-2 kg

How long does Turkey vulture live?

15-30 years

What does Turkey vulture eat?

Vultures are nature's clean-up crew, eating mostly dead animals to keep ecosystems healthy.

Where is Turkey vulture usually found?

Various habitats including forests, grasslands, and deserts

Can turkey vultures really smell dead animals?

Yes. In a forest test, turkey vultures relied almost entirely on smell to find hidden carcasses, and they have the largest smell centres in the brain of any bird measured. Black vultures often follow them to food.

Why do turkey vultures have bald heads?

Nobody is completely sure. A bare head stays cleaner when a vulture feeds inside a carcass, and scientists also think bare skin may help it lose or keep heat. Both ideas may be true.

Are turkey vultures dangerous to people?

No. They do not attack people. A frightened bird may hiss or throw up its meal, so watch from a distance and never touch or handle one. If you find one that seems hurt, tell an adult, who can call a local wildlife rescue.

Do turkey vultures kill animals?

Almost never. They feed almost entirely on dead animals. The black vulture, a cousin, sometimes kills newborn calves or lambs.

Why do turkey vultures sit with their wings spread out?

It is called the sunning pose. A study found they do it in strong morning sun and more often when wet, to dry their feathers and balance their body temperature.

What is the difference between a turkey vulture and a black vulture?

Adult turkey vultures have red heads, longer tails and two-toned wings held in a V, and they find food by smell. Black vultures have grey-black heads, short tails and white wingtip patches, and they find food by sight, often by following turkey vultures.

Do turkey vultures migrate?

Northern turkey vultures do. They fly south in flocks called kettles to Mexico, Central America and the coastal US. They are the most migratory of all vultures.

Why do turkey vultures circle in the sky?

They are riding thermals, rising bubbles of warm air, to gain height without flapping. Soaring costs them little energy while they search for food by smell and sight.