Turkey Vulture, Cathartes Aura

“…murderous aspect–the very look of a professional assassin, and yet a bird which does no murder.”

Mark Twain, Following The Equator (1897)

Above the forests, shores, and hills connecting Canada and Tierra Del Fuego, diverse landscapes are speckled by one of the Americas’ arguably and ironically most overlooked birds and ecological allies.

The Turkey Vulture owes its scientific name to the Greek kathartes, meaning ‘purifier’, and Latin aura for an ‘air’ or ‘breeze’. Kathartes (think catharsis!) then alludes to its role as a cleanser that tidies up its environment. Aura, on the other hand, refers to the raptor’s practice of using its broad, six-foot long wingspan to circle slowly and tightly around thermal columns, rising masses of warm and buoyant air, effectively sinking at a rate slower than the rising air around them. For this reason, they are late risers and can often be seen on transmission or communication towers long after the sun has risen, waiting for the sun to warm the Earth. Soaring effortlessly for stretches of time without flapping their wings, they use keen eyesight and an exceptional sense of smell – effective for over a mile – to locate their infamous and nearly exclusive diet of carrion, namely the decaying flesh of dead animals.

Yet despite the macabre and ominous connotations, Turkey Vultures are remarkably social and clean custodians to their environments. Usually found in dead trees or tall human-made structures, they roost in large communities ranging from just a few to well over a hundred members, and they’re meticulous about their hygiene. Their distinctively bald heads prevent unwanted meat from getting stuck in feathers while eating, and they maintain a constant regimen of pruning their feathers clean. Spreading their wings to the sun, they also capitalize on the sun’s ultraviolet rays to kill potentially harmful bacteria form their plumage, demonstrating first-hand that sunlight may really be the best disinfectant.

Given their “purifying” nature, Turkey Vultures fill a particularly vital niche in their environments, preventing the spread of diseases and serving as potential indicators of an ecosystem’s health and integrity. With stomach acid at a pH just slightly above zero (i.e., more acidic than a car battery), they comfortably feed on animals that have died from rabies, anthrax, salmonella, and cholera without causing the vulture to become ill. Moreover, their stomach acids kill the bacteria and toxins. Due to this disease-killing ability, Turkey Vultures remove disease from the ecosystem when they eat, preventing health risks to humans and other wildlife. In fact, the near extinction of vultures in India has been linked to a spread and significantly increased incidence of rabies. Accordingly, they are nicknamed nature’s clean-up crew.

More than just an opportunistic predator or a harbinger of death, the Turkey Vulture is an integral part of any Texas landscape and just as deserving of our appreciation as any songbird, hawk, or shorebird. So keep your head up, and don’t overlook the Turkey Vulture.

Compiled by Alexandre Lemaire. Photos by Alexandre Lemaire.

Sources include National Audubon Society, All About Birds, Project Gutenberg, and Missouri Dept. of Conservation.