Turkey Vulture
Cathartes aura |
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STANFORD LOCATIONS: Common visitor seen soaring above campus year-round, occasionally feeding on dead animals along roads or in freshly disked areas. |
Location |
Type |
Mating System |
Parental Care |
2ndary Diet |
Strategy |
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I: 38-41 DAYS SEMIALTRICIAL 2 |
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0 - 20+ feet |
(1-3) MONOG |
MF |
BREEDING: | Open habitats in both lowlands and mountains. 1 brood. |
DISPLAYS: | Courtship includes following-flights with male(?) occ diving at female. |
NEST: | Also in cave (esp in w) or in hollow stump with narrow entrance. Rarely a minimal nest of raked stones, dry leaves, wood chips. |
EGGS: | White, occ marked with brown. 2.8" (71 mm). |
DIET: | Virtually any dead animal down to size of tadpole. Young fed regurgitant. |
CONSERVATION: | Winters s to Bahamas, throughout C.A., Greater Antilles and S.A. Blue List 1972, 1980, Special Concern 1981-82, Local Concern 1986; reportedly decreasing in s Great Plains and parts of s. Eggshell thinning still a widespread problem. |
NOTES: | Experimental evidence suggests carrion found by sight and scent. In contrast to Black Vulture, does not renest if clutch destroyed. Young brooded continuously for 5 days by both parents. Roost communally throughout year. |
ESSAYS: | Soaring; Avian Sense of Smell; Spread-Wing Postures; Blue List; Temperature Regulation; Communal Roosting. |
REFERENCES: | Clark and Ohmart, 1985; Stager, 1964; Wilbur and Jackson, 1983. |
Help | Abbreviations | Species-Alphabetical | Species-Taxonomic | Essays-Alphabetical | |
Except for Stanford Locations, the material in this species treatment is taken, with permission, from The Birder's Handbook (Paul Ehrlich, David Dobkin, & Darryl Wheye, Simon & Schuster, NY. 1988). |