Turkey Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Adult
- Very large, long-winged raptor
- Mostly dark with paler brown on wings
- Bright red, unfeathered head
- Sharply hooked white bill
- © jon, WA, Padilla Bay, Anacortes, May 2011
Turkey Vulture
Adult in flight
- Long, broad wings
- Wings two-toned white and black underneath
- In flight, wings often bent and held up at "v"-shaped angle
- Pinkish-red unfeathered head with white bill
- © Ned Harris, AZ, Winkelman, May 2010
Turkey Vulture
Adult sunning
- Wings often held open when perched
- Long, broad wings
- Bare, reddish-pink head
- Mostly black and dark brown
- © Jay Paredes, FL, Loxahatchee NWR, May 2009
Turkey Vulture
Immature
- Immature has dark gray unfeathered head
- Dark throughout with golden-brown edges on wings
- Sharply hooked bill
- © Lois Manowitz, AZ, Pena Blanca Lake, Nogales, September 2010
Turkey Vulture
Adult in flight
- Long, broad wings
- Two-toned black and white underneath
- Obvious separated "fingers" at tips of wings
- © striatus, MD, October 2010
Turkey Vulture
Adult sunning
- Often seen sunning with wings spread, when perched
- Long, dark wings with golden-brown scalloping
- Pinkish-red unfeathered head
- Bright white, hooked bill
- © Ned Harris, AZ, Tucson, May 2010
Turkey Vulture
Flock
- Often seen soaring together in large groups
- Long, broad wings "bent" or held up at an angle
- Wings two-toned underneath
- © Christopher L. Wood, Veracruz, Mexico, October 2007
Turkey Vulture
Adult
- Unfeathered pinkish-red head
- Bright white bill sharply hooked
- Mostly dark body
- © Robinsegg, UT, Mountain Dell, April 2007
Turkey Vulture
Adult
- Large-bodied and long-winged raptor
- Mostly dark with golden-brown edges on wing coverts
- Unfeathered, pinkish-red head
- Bright white hooked bill
- © bmse, CA, Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, Huntington Beach, November 2010
Similar Species
Adult in flight
- Shorter wings and tail than Turkey Vulture
- Underwings mostly dark except for pale white wing-tips
- Dark gray/black head
- © Kaustubh Deshpande, Arlington, TX, May 2009
Adult
- Dark gray, unfeathered head
- Jet black body
- Dark, hooked bill with pale gray tip
- Shorter wings than Turkey Vulture
- © Greg Page, Falls of the Ohio State Park, IN, October 2009
Adult Turkey and Black Vultures
- Turkey Vulture on left with pinkish-red head, white bill, and golden-brown edges on wing feathers
- Black Vulture on right with gray head, dark bill, and jet black wings
- © Paul Pruitt, Grass Pond Colony, TX, April 2011
Adult in flight
- Very similar to Turkey Vulture in flight
- Wings two-toned but pale area is heavily barred
- White and black barred tail
- Fully feathered head with black-tipped yellow bill
- © Greg Page, Brewster County, TX, September 2010
Immature in flight
- Similar to Turkey Vulture but wings are held flat in flight
- Mostly dark underneath, but immature has white patches on middle of wings and on tail
- Fully-feathered golden-brown head
- Yellow bill
- © dwaynejava, Amherstburg, ON, November 2010
Adult
- Similar in flight shape to Turkey Vulture, but smaller
- Mostly whitish underneath with dark markings acros breast
- Wings shorter and broader than in Turkey Vulture
- © ashockenberry, Ontario, Canada, September 2008