Birds of the Table Rocks

Turkey Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Cathartes aura

I am an eagle-sized blackish bird, usually seen soaring over Table Rocks. In flight, I hold my long wings upward in a wide, shallow V. My flight feathers are silvery below. My head is small, featherless, and reddish. I am usually silent, but may hiss or grunt when feeding or at the nest.

I soar for hours over Table Rocks and nearby open country, searching for carcasses or dead animals. I locate them by sight and partly by using my sense of smell. I am also known as a "buzzard." I ride on rising columns of warm air called thermals to save energy as I cover miles of territory. I am not a strong flapping bird and don't fly on windless days.

I am valued for my service of removing garbage and disease-causing carrion (dead animal material).

At night we often gather in nightly communal roosts in tall trees or towers.

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