Turkey vultures are a common sight in the skies across much of North and South America. With their distinctive bald red heads and dark plumage these large birds play an important role as nature’s clean-up crew. But despite being widespread turkey vultures face threats from habitat loss and human activity. This has led to legal protections to ensure the survival of these unique birds.
An Ecosystem Service Provider
As scavengers that feast mainly on carrion, turkey vultures provide a valuable service in cleaning up carcasses and preventing the spread of diseases. Using their keen eyesight and sense of smell, turkey vultures are able to locate dead animals, even when covered by vegetation. Their strong stomach acid allows them to feed on carcasses infected with botulism, anthrax and other toxins that would sicken or kill other animals.
By disposing of animal carcasses turkey vultures reduce health risks and help control nuisance wildlife populations. Studies have shown that the absence of vultures can allow feral dog and rodent numbers to surge. This highlights the importance of vultures to maintaining balanced ecosystems.
Under Threat
While still common, turkey vulture numbers have declined in parts of their range due to habitat destruction and persecution by humans Conversion of grasslands and forests to agriculture removes crucial foraging habitat and nesting sites
Turkey vultures are also vulnerable to poisons like lead ammunition and pesticides, which can accumulate in their bodies from scavenged carcasses. Power lines, wind turbines and vehicle collisions take a toll as well. Some turkey vultures are even intentionally killed by ranchers and farmers who view them as a threat to livestock, despite little evidence to support this.
Protecting a Unique Bird
To prevent turkey vulture populations from further declines, a number of legal protections are in place. In the United States, turkey vultures are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act which makes harming or killing them illegal without a permit. The species is listed as Least Concern globally by the IUCN Red List based on its large and widespread population.
Additionally, anti-poisoning efforts aim to reduce the risk of lead poisoning from ammunition in scavenged carcasses. Programs to protect grasslands and install infrastructure to reduce collisions are also beneficial. Public education can help address misconceptions about vultures being a threat to livestock.
While turkey vultures may not seem as charismatic as eagles, condors or other raptors, they are beautiful birds in their own right and provide an ecological service essential to the health of many landscapes. Ensuring adequate habitat and reducing unnatural causes of death will give turkey vulture populations the protections they need to continue thriving.
Turkey Vulture Quick Facts
- Common names: turkey buzzard, John crow
- Largest vulture in North America
- Wingspan up to 6 feet
- Soar for hours without flapping wings
- Bald red head is adaptation for feeding inside carcasses
- Stomach acid helps safely digest diseased carcasses
- Live 10-15 years in wild, up to 45 years in captivity
- Nest on cliffs, caves, hollow trees, thickets
- Lay 1-3 eggs, raise 1-2 chicks per year
- Population stable overall but declining regionally
- Protected by Migratory Bird Treaty Act in the U.S.
- Considered Least Concern globally by IUCN Red List
From cleaning up roadkill and animal carcasses to controlling disease risks, turkey vultures provide a valuable contribution to ecosystem health across the Americas. However, habitat loss and poisoning threats make it important to ensure these unique scavengers remain protected. With sound conservation policies and public education, turkey vultures will continue gliding majestically over the landscape for generations to come.
When threatened, turkey vultures protect themselves by hissing and vomiting powerful stomach acids.
North, Central, and South America
Up to 16 yrs
2‑3.5 ft Wingspan: About 6 ft
Turkey vultures are birds of the Americas, ranging from coast to coast and from southern Canada all the way to the southern tip of South America. The species is native to Maryland.
“How I live there”
Turkey vultures are commonly sighted near roadways, open areas such as farms and countryside, and in places where garbage and food are plentiful such as trash heaps, dumps, landfills, and construction sites. At night, they roost in trees or on rock ledges and other high places (including roofs). They often roost in large groups and migrate in even larger groups that may number in the thousands.
First thing in the morning, you may see turkey vultures standing with outstretched wings, presumably warming or drying them in the sun. During the day, they forage for food either on their own or in small groups. They look for carrion and almost never attack live prey. They tend to congregate near dumpsters and roadkill. More than one turkey vulture may gather at a carcass but they take turns feeding, with one chasing others off until it has had its fill. Other species of vulture and raptor may also turn up and, despite their large size, turkey vultures are easily intimidated by competing scavengers.
New World vultures–those from North and South America–are either bald or have very few feathers on their heads. This adaptation allows them to clean themselves more efficiently after scavenging raw meat. All vultures also have strong stomach enzymes and apparently excellent immune systems that allow them to digest rotting meat without contracting botulism or other bacterial illnesses.
If you look up in the sky and see a huge bird that you think might be an eagle but you notice that it is making wobbly circles with its broad wings raised in a V, it is most likely a turkey vulture. Soaring low to the ground or up high on heat thermals, turkey vultures use their keen senses of sight and smell to detect fresh carcasses on the ground, even those that are not visible from the air. The part of their brains dedicated to processing smell is known to be exceptionally large compared to other birds.
The word vulture probably comes from the Latin vellere, which means to pluck or to tear. The scientific name for turkey vulture is more pleasantly poetic. Cathartesaura means “golden purifier.” The colloquial term for vulture in the U.S. is “buzzard.”
Turkey vultures have few natural predators. They can suffer persecution by people who consider them a nuisance or, misguidedly, carriers of disease. (Vultures actually help reduce rather than promote disease.) They can also be poisoned by ingesting meat contaminated by poison or lead shot.
Turkey vultures will feed and roost near humans but prefer to nest in remote, undisturbed areas. They seek out protected rock crevices, caves, hollow logs, fallen trees, or abandoned mammal burrows, nests, or buildings. They do not build nests; rather, females scrape out a slight depression. They lay 1-3 eggs per clutch and incubate the eggs for 28-40 days. After hatching, chicks will stay in the nest for up to 3 months and both parents will care for them. Even after chicks have fledged, family groups will stay together for a few more months. Juveniles are easily recognized by their dark heads and beaks.
Turkey vultures are currently listed as a species of “least concern” by the IUCN, the world’s leading conservation organization. Their population declined during the 20th century, due in part to exposure to the fertilizer DDT, but turkey vultures have since made a comeback across their entire range. They are protected by state law in Maryland and by the federal Migratory Bird Act of 1918. It is illegal to take, kill, or possess a turkey vulture in the U.S., and these birds are protected by similar laws in Canada and Mexico.
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Subphylum: Vertebrata
- Class: Aves
- Order: Accipitriformes
- Family: Cathartidae
- Genera: Cathartes
- Species: aura