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Turkey Vulture | Cathartes aura
Kalkoengier | Aura tiñosa
The Turkey Vulture is the vulture of the Greater Antilles: aura tiñosa in Cuba, John Crow in Jamaica, king corbeau in Trinidad. It soars low over the land for hours and, unlike Black Vulture, finds much of its carrion by smell. In Puerto Rico the species is generally held to have been introduced from Cuba in the late 19th century.
Voice
Lacks a syrinx and is almost silent; hisses or grunts at carcasses and the nest.
Recording: Ed Pandolfino — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · shortened to the first 60 s, mono · xeno-canto
Identification
62–81 cm, with long, narrow wings and a fairly long, rounded tail. The plumage is blackish-brown, with paler fringes on the back and wing coverts. The head is small and bare, red in adults with a white bill; juveniles have a grey head and a dark bill. From below the wings are two-toned: black coverts and silvery-grey flight feathers along the whole length. It soars with the wings held in a marked V, tilts from side to side and rarely flaps. The sexes are alike. Birds in Trinidad (subspecies ruficollis) have a paler nape band and yellowish marks on the crown.
Confusion species
Black Vulture Coragyps atratus, a regular in the region only in Trinidad, is stockier and shorter-tailed, has a grey head and white patches only at the wingtip, and flies with quick, shallow beats on flat wings. Soaring raptors such as Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis hold their wings flatter and have a larger, feathered head and pale underbody.
Habitat
Open and semi-open country: pasture, farmland, savanna, dry scrub and forest edge, coasts and cliffs, also over villages, roads and rubbish dumps; rarely over unbroken moist forest. Feeds on carrion, from small animals to livestock, and finds carcasses under cover by smell. Roosts communally in trees, on rocks or on masts. Lays its eggs without a nest on the ground in a rock cavity, a cave, a hollow tree or dense scrub.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation types of the Caribbean.
Range and movements
A common resident in Cuba and the Isla de la Juventud, Jamaica and Trinidad. Local in Hispaniola, mainly in the Dominican Republic. In Puerto Rico chiefly in the south and south-west, from Ponce to Cabo Rojo. In the Bahamas only on the northern islands, such as Grand Bahama, Abaco, Andros and New Providence. Not established in Tobago, the Cayman Islands, the Virgin Islands or the Lesser Antilles, where there are only occasional records. Outside the region from southern Canada to Tierra del Fuego.
- Resident
- Summer visitor (c. Oct–Mar)
- Winter visitor (c. Apr–Sep)
- Passage (Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
In Cuba and Jamaica visible almost everywhere at any time of day, especially from late morning when thermals develop. In Puerto Rico the dry south-west coast and Cabo Rojo are the best areas. In Trinidad it is best told from Black Vulture by the V-shaped wing posture and the silvery-grey wing pattern.
Conservation status
Not threatened. The species is common in the region and adapts well to man-made landscapes. Poisoning, road collisions and persecution occur locally.
Scientific name
Cathartes aura | (Linnaeus, 1758)
Linnaeus described the species in 1758 as Vultur Aura; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Cathartes was introduced in 1811 by Illiger. Cathartes is Greek kathartēs 'purifier', after its clearing away of carcasses. aura is probably a Latinised form of a native Mexican name for this vulture; the exact origin is uncertain. The specimen the first description was based on came from Veracruz, Mexico (later designated).