Condor Watch Talk

Turkey vultures

  • richieheal by richieheal

    I have done quite a few images now but have only had 1 with turkey vultures present. All the other animals come up often but not these. Is this expected? The field guide mentions that they are the most common in North America but I guess not in this region/not NA.. You will have to excuse me as i am not from the us.

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  • RenoHatesMe by RenoHatesMe

    I have also noticed a surprising lack of Turkey Vultures. They are common in the Eastern US, where I live, and I would have expected a lot more of them in California. I look forward to hearing from one of the scientists about this.

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  • BirdGrrl by BirdGrrl scientist

    Well, there are tons of turkey vultures in CA, that's for sure. And they are the most common vulture in North America, followed by the black vulture. They're much smaller than condors and are therefore dominated by them--when condors are around, turkey vultures are not likely to be there. They may also be intimidated by large flocks of ravens. I'm not sure about this, but it will be neat to see if we only find "TV"s hanging around at the carcass when there are less than a critical mass of ravens.

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  • All41 by All41

    http://talk.condorwatch.org/#/subjects/ACW0000kpz

    Are these guys vultures or condors? I am thinking vultures because they seem small. But I would love a more definite answer. Thanks.

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  • myraf by myraf scientist

    Thanks for your question. Looks like 4 condors 6 ravens. The bodies/heads/legs are too bulky to be turkey vultures. The heads on the juvenile condors are slimmer than adults but they aren't as "pin-headed" as the turkey vultures can appear.

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