Turkey Vulture

Description:

The turkey vulture's head (like the head of its namesake, the wild turkey) is bald and red. Its plumage is primarily dark brown. In flight, the undersides of the wings are two-toned: on the leading edge (the front) of the wing the color appears black or dark brown, and the trailing edge appears silver or whitish.

Habitat:

By far the most widespread of the New World vultures, the turkey vulture can be found throughout the entire continental United States, north into Canada, and south into Central and South America down to Tierra del Fuego, and over to the Falkland Islands. These birds seem to do well in landscapes with a mixture of open and wooded areas, but can be found almost anywhere. They live along coastlines, in deserts, throughout plains, and even in inland tropical forests.

Notes:

I had to post that first photo of the Turkey Vulture nearly lounging on the power-line, the sun was out and he was trying to warm up and it was the silliest sight to see such a large bird laying so high. The other photos are right along the Lake Casitas, they had just swooped down for leftover lunch from a Red-Tailed Hawk on a Coot...you can see the feathers in the air. The interesting thing was that one of the Turkey Vultures was tagged on it's wing. Too bad I wasn't close enough to make out the numbers and report the sighting!