From Opus

Cathartes aura

Photo by Vogelman
Montgomery County, Texas December 2003.

[edit] Identification

• Large and brown to blackish
• Primaries spread during flight (resembling fingers)
• Flight feathers appear silvery below
• Rocking flight with wings held in dihedral (v-shaped)
• Naked pink head (color differ among subspecies)

[edit] Similar Species

May be confused with Black Vulture. Separating features:

• head: grayish in Black Vulture and red in Turkey (but juvenile Turkey with gray head).
• underwing: Turkey has silvery secondaries and primaries when seen from below, contrasting with the dark underwing coverts; Black Vulture has white primaries contrasting to both coverts and secondaries as seen from both above and below.
• tail: longer in Turkey (make wings appear narrower).
• flight: Black Vulture holds wings nearly flat

[edit] Distribution

Photo by Nick Richter
Irvine, California, June 2004.

North, Central and South America. Breeds in the south of Canada from southern British Columbia to southern Ontario, almost throughout the United States except the far northeast, in Mexico, Central America, part of the Bahamas and the Greater Antilles east to Puerto Rico, and in South America from Colombia and Venezuela south to Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands but rare or absent from much of eastern Argentina. Scarce in the far north but increasing and expanding range. A summer visitor to much of North American range but resident further south. Northern birds winter in the southern United States from central California to Florida and southwards. Southernmost birds include some migratory populations.

[edit] Taxonomy

Four subspecies recognised^[1]:

1. aura from Canada to Costa Rica and Cuba
2. septentrionalis in eastern North America
3. ruficollis in Trinidad and from Panama to northern Argentina
4. jota from Colombia to Patagonia and the Falkland Islands

Some sources mention at least two more subspecies^[2]. There is also a suspicion that this species should be studied further because more than one species might be involved.

[edit] Habitat

A wide range of habitats from deserts, plains and mountains to forest and jungle.

[edit] Behaviour

Often scavenges at refuse-tips and along roadsides and shorelines.

Voice: Hisses and grunts given at the nest

[edit] References

1. Clements, James F. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2007. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801445019
2. Alvaro Jaramillo. 2003. Birds of Chile. Princeton Field Guides. ISBN 0-691-11740-3

[edit] External Links