Description: Eagle-sized blackish bird with a silver-grey lining to its underwings. Usually seen soaring in the sky with wings held in a dihedral or shallow V, rocking and tilting unsteadily. It has a small red, naked head which is gray in immature vultures. Usually silent, the Turkey Vulture hisses and grunts when feeding or at nest.

Range: From southern Canada to Cape Horn, migratory in the north.

Habitat: Mainly deciduous forests and woodlands; often seen over adjacent farmlands. May be seen in Victoria all year but the bulk of the coastal population arrives from the south in late MR.h. From early September to mid October hundreds of vultures gather at favourite staging areas on the larger offshore islands and near Beachy Head and Sooke before catching thermals and soaring in loose flocks to California and Mexico.

General: The Turkey Vulture rarely flaps its wings, conserving energy as it soars on thermals searching for carcasses which it locates by smell. Seldom do we see a Turkey Vulture on a windless day, suggesting it needs energy for those long periods between meals. It lays 2 eggs without nest in a rock crevice or in a hollow tree or log.

References:

Bovey, Robin, Campbell, Wayne, and Gates, Brian. 1989. Birds of Victoria and Vicinity. Lone Pine Publishing. Edmonton, Alberta.

Peterson, Roger Tory. 1990. Peterson Field Guides: Western Birds. Houghton Mifflin Company. New York, New York.

Udvardy, Miklos D. F. 1994. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Western Region. Chanticlear Press, Inc. New York, New York.

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