Stats

Lifespan: 16-20 yrs
Size: Large
Diet: Carnivore
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Flock
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: The Americas
Movement: Flight
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Speed
Status: Common

About

A large New World scavenger with a bare red head and dark plumage, the Turkey Vulture is unusual among birds in locating carrion primarily by smell — its olfactory sense is one of the keenest of any bird on Earth.

Life cycle

1.
egg
One or two eggs are incubated on a high stick nest or cliff ledge, guarded closely by the pair.
2.
hatchling
A downy hatchling is fed torn meat by its parents and grows quickly in a high nest.
3.
juvenile
A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest, learning to soar and to make its first kills.
4.
adult
Fully grown, hunting on its own with adult plumage.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Cathartiformes
Family: Cathartidae
Genus: Cathartes
Species: Cathartes aura