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Turkey Vulture

Cathartes aura

Description:

One of the 3 species of vultures in Uruguay, the Turkey Vulture is a big bird (note: according to this Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bir..., Uruguay also has the King Vulture, but that is not mentioned in my other sources and I've never heard of it being spotted here). In some North American regions it is also known as the Turkey Buzzard (or just Buzzard). It stands about 70cm high and has a wingspan of about 1,90 meters. This is an adult and not a juvenile. As can be seen in this pictures, this specimen has a read head and coloured stripes on the back of his head. Juveniles have a blackish head and have some white on the nape, which is lacking from this here. The Turkey Vulture is a scavenger and feeds almost exclusively on carrion. It finds its food using its keen eyes and sense of smell, flying low enough to detect the gases produced by the beginnings of the process of decay in dead animals.

Habitat:

It is the most abundant vulture in the Americas. Its global population is estimated to be 4,500,000 individuals. The turkey vulture is widespread over open country, subtropical forests, shrub-lands, deserts, and foothills. It is also found in pastures, grasslands, and wetlands and, as can be seen in these series, on coast lines.

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remco.douma
Spotted by
remco.douma

Maldonado, Uruguay

Spotted on Sep 6, 2014
Submitted on Sep 7, 2014

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Reference

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