These words describe turkey vultures: Bald, beautiful, and green. Bald? Definitely. Beautiful? Yes, in their own way. Green? Absolutely! As a group,
they are nature’s recyclers, cleaning up a variety of carrion ranging from small mammals to dead cows.
The turkey vulture is one of North America's largest birds of prey. It reaches a length of 32 inches with a wing span of 6 feet. Its head, like its namesake, is featherless and red. Its plumage is dark brown to black.
The turkey vulture is a graceful and skilled glider. It will launch itself from its perch only after the morning air has warmed. Then, it circles upward, searching for pockets of rising warm air, or thermals. Once it finds a thermal, it drifts upward in rising circles on the thermal. The vulture will then hold its wings in a slight V-shape as it soars over large areas searching for food, using both sight and smell—a sense uncommon in most birds. Its ability to detect odors allows it to find dead animals hidden below trees and brush.
The turkey vulture’s "bald" head is an adaptation to its germy, messy diet. Being bald, it head is easy to keep clean. A vulture must often stick its head inside carcasses to reach the meat. If the vulture had feathers, unwanted pieces of the vulture's meal would cling to them, along with all the bacteria on the rotting flesh. After mealtime, the turkey vulture perches in the heat of the sun; whatever has managed to cling to the few bits of fuzz on its head will be baked off once and for all.
The bald head is only one part of the turkey vulture’s sophisticated germ defense. The turkey vulture gets a few others from its ancestors, the storks and ibises. Unlike other birds of prey, this vulture has weak, stork-like feet that are only suitable for running on the ground. It cannot lift or carry food with its feet. It can only step on its food to hold it in place while eating. After eating, the turkey vulture will, like a stork, urinate right onto its legs and feet. This serves two very important purposes. The urine contains strong acids from the vulture's digestive system, and kills any bacteria that may remain on the bird's legs (from, perhaps, stepping in its meal). Also, the vulture cannot sweat; As the urine evaporates, it cools the bird as sweat would do. Great on hot summer days.
Like a stork, the turkey vulture is often seen standing in a spread-winged stance. This is called the "Horaltic Pose". In this position, a turkey vulture can dry its wings, warm its body, and bake off some bacteria!
The turkey vulture has few natural predators. When it does encounter an enemy, its primary form of defense is vomiting (!), coughing up a lump of semi-digested meat. It is not clear whether the foul smell deters the adversary or whether the predator gives up pursuit of the vulture in favor of the sometimes-edible offering.
This bird is most vulnerable on the ground. Since a turkey vulture can weigh as much as six pounds, its takeoff can be quite slow and laborious. Should you see one the road, perhaps as it is scavenging road-kill, use caution—turkey vultures often cannot get out of the way of oncoming cars.
Contrary to popular belief, circling vultures do not necessarily indicate the presence of a dead animal. Circling vultures may be gaining altitude for long flights, searching for food, or playing. While on the lookout for food, vultures pay attention to their fellow vultures. They note when others' behavior indicates the discovery of a food source, and will flock to the area. Turkey vultures descend quickly on small items to avoid sharing. Large groups of vultures sometimes remain aloft until enough birds have arrived to eat a large carcass.
Turkey vultures can be seen throughout the state, especially in dry, open country and rangeland, and along roadsides, cleaning up road kill, near rivers feasting on washed-up fish, or anywhere carrion is common. If you would like some suggestions as to where to view turkey vultures, Colorado’s Wildlife Viewing Guide, Second Edition, Revised, lists two dozen sites to observe this sometimes maligned bird.