I was driving on a back road this morning. I passed a dead deer on the side of the road. There were 4 black vultures on the deer. At least there were three vultures and another bird that seemed to be congregating with them. The fourth bird looked like a black vulture, but it had a white head and large white patches on its wings. Black vultures seem to have replaced turkey vultures in this area in the past 10 or 12 years, but I never saw one marked like this one.
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Strange vulture (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Twotrails
- Start date
nartreb
Speak softly and carry a long lens
White head?? White feathers, you mean?
Seen some funny lumps on vulture faces but never an all-white head.
White feathers in abnormal patterns are a relatively common occurrence in all birds, but black vultures have practically no feathers on their heads.
My best guess is you saw a bald eagle. They start with dark heads and tails but a bunch of white blotches elsewhere. Gradually, by somewhere around age two IIRC, the head turns mostly white, the tail is partly white, but there are still white patches on the wings.
Osprey might also be an option but seems unlikely on a deer carcass.
Location would help. In some places a caracara would be more likely than a bald eagle
Seen some funny lumps on vulture faces but never an all-white head.
White feathers in abnormal patterns are a relatively common occurrence in all birds, but black vultures have practically no feathers on their heads.
My best guess is you saw a bald eagle. They start with dark heads and tails but a bunch of white blotches elsewhere. Gradually, by somewhere around age two IIRC, the head turns mostly white, the tail is partly white, but there are still white patches on the wings.
Osprey might also be an option but seems unlikely on a deer carcass.
Location would help. In some places a caracara would be more likely than a bald eagle
Last edited:
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
Agree.My best guess is you saw a bald eagle. They start with dark heads and tails but a bunch of white blotches elsewhere. Gradually, by somewhere around age two IIRC, the head turns mostly white, the tail is partly white, but there are still white patches on the wings.
Osprey might also be an option but seems unlikely on a deer carcass.
Location would help. In some places a caracara would be more likely than a bald eagle
stevethehydra
Well-known member
A Bald Eagle is very different from a Black Vulture - much bigger, different head shape, posture, etc. I think this is most likely to be a Black Vulture that either has some sort of pigment abnormality (leucism, partial albinism, whatever the consensus is that the correct term is these days - there have been a million arguments about the terminology of this on here!) or has got its head in some kind of white substance.
edited to add: something like this Turkey Vulture? Headman John Crow – 10,000 Birds
edited to add: something like this Turkey Vulture? Headman John Crow – 10,000 Birds
