Today's featured feathered friend is the Turkey Vulture. The most abundant vulture species of the Americas. They can be seen as far north as southern Canada in breeding season, to the southern most parts of South America.
It appears to be a large black bird with white trailing edges on it's wings. In reality it is brown with silvery flight feathers. It has a featherless reddish head with a pale bill and pinkish legs. There are five subspecies, each differing in size. Birds in northern areas are larger than those in the south. The average Turkey Vulture is 28 inches in length, weighs around 3 1/2 pounds and has a wingspan of about 5 1/2 feet. Males and females are identical in appearance. Like most raptors, the female is (slightly) larger than the male. Juveniles are similar to adults but have a darker plumage with a gray head and dark bill.
Turkey Vultures are interesting to watch in flight. They hold their wings in a distinctive "V" pattern making them pretty easy to identify. They circle overhead gliding on rising thermals "wobbling" from side to side like an unbalanced wheel.
Click on the links below for more information and enjoy some of our favorite photos of the Turkey Vulture.....tweet.....tweet!!
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| Turkey Vulture (Taken 11/6/13, The Celery Fields, Sarasota) |
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| Soaring over our backyard. (Taken 12/20/13) |
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| Perched on a fensepost. (Taken 12/27/12, Clay Gully Road, Manatee County FL) |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_vulture
