Condor Watch Talk

2nd number?

  • stonepenny by stonepenny

    Image ACW0003zby

    #tag under 06 on right? looks like a '17' white on black...or 2 condors here?

    http://talk.condorwatch.org/#/subjects/ACW0003zby

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  • wreness by wreness moderator

    It's just an illusion - the light on the feathers. It's pretty neat, though! Really does look like a 17.

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  • wreness by wreness moderator

    Hi!

    What a great photo 😃 That's a Turkey Vulture but it's easy to mistake them for condors. They show up from time to time in the photos here and unless you see them next to a condor, so you can see just how much bigger a condor is, it's easy to confuse the two.

    Turkey vultures have dark brown feathers and stand almost 3 feet tall (64-81 cm). They have one of the larger wingspans at 6 feet (1.8 m) and are huge when you see them flying. Condor's wings stretch almost 10 feet (3 m) The thing that stands out in your photo is the ivory-white tip of the beak which is typical of Turkey Vultures and the bright red head (condors heads are black when juvenile and pink with purple, yellow, blue, orange and coral colors when mature)

    Condors also have that collar like you see here but theirs is a fluffy "boa" that they can pull up and down, from shoulders to their ears or keep warm or communicate (or make a fashion statement 😃) They also have long, "snaky" necks. Turkey Vultures have a tight, stationary "cone" like you see here and their heads stick out from it at an angle, like the handle of a walking cane.

    There's some great photos with Condor/Turkey Vulture size comparisons on our Field Guide (about the middle of the page) and more photos of turkey vultures on the ID sheets for size comparisons.

    A turkey vulture fun fact - when threatened, they defend themselves by vomiting. 😛

    Thanks for sharing!

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  • potsmonster by potsmonster

    Thanks for the detailed info. This website is a great resource and I've learned a lot browsing through all of the information.

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  • DZM by DZM admin

    It may not be a condor, but it's a magnificent vulture, and a very cool pic. Thanks for showing us!

    And if you're new to Talk, @potsmonster, hope to see you around! We're friendly, and most of us don't defend ourselves by vomiting. 😃

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