English: Turkey vulture.
Region: southern Canada to the southern tip of South America.
Habitat: open and semi-open areas, subtropical forests, shrub lands, pastures, deserts.
ZoologyThe turkey vulture nests in caves, hollow trees, or thickets. It is gregarious and roosts in large community groups, breaking away to forage independently during the day. In flight, it uses thermals to move through the air, flapping its wings infrequently. Each year it generally raises two chicks, which it feeds by regurgitation. It has very few natural predators. The turkey vulture is a scavenger. It feeds primarily on a wide variety of carrion, from small mammals to large grazers, preferring those recently dead, and avoiding carcasses that have reached the point of putrefaction. It forages by smell, an ability that is uncommon in the avian world, often flying low to the ground to pick up the scent of ethyl mercaptan, a gas produced by the beginnings of decay in dead animals. The turkey vulture, like most other vultures, has very few vocalization capabilities. Because it lacks a syrinx which helps avoiding infections, it can only utter hisses and grunts. The digestive system is able to destroy pathogens really effectively. Turkey vulture uses vomiting as a protective mechanism. If disturbed it regurgitates the food he ate, too lighten itself, so it is easier to fly away.