- Cathartes aura
Identification
Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura RANGE North, Central and South America. Breeds in the south of Canada from southern British Columbia to southern Ontario, almost throughout the USA except the far north-east, in Mexico, Central America and the West Indies, 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 USA from central California to Florida and southwards.
HABITAT A wide range of habitats from deserts, plains and mountains to forest and jungle. Often scavenges at refuse-tips and along roadsides and shorelines.
SUBSPECIES Four subspecies recognised: aura from Canada to Costa Rica and Cuba, septentrionalis in eastern North America, ruficollis in Trinidad and from Panama to northern Argentina and jota from Colombia to Patagonia and the Falkland Islands.
