The turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) is a species of vulture and the most widespread of the New World vultures. It ranges across North and South America and inhabits many habitats, including subtropical forests or deserts. It is named from its resemblance to the male wild turkey. It is a scavenger, and has very few predators. Primarily feeding on carrion of many mammals from small rodents to large grazing ungulates (preferring fresh over putrified), they rarely are seen eating plant matter, dung, and live prey (especially small and weak or very sick individuals) like bird eggs and nestlings, reptiles, frogs and tadpoles, insects, and other invertebrates. Turkey vultures are often found feasting on roadkill, but near bodies of water too, feeding on washed fishes.
It should be noted that New World vultures (including the turkey vulture) are not closely related to the Old World vultures. Old World vultures are from the family Accipitridae, which contains eagles, kites, and hawks; while the New World vultures are a sister group to the Accipitriformes, containing the osprey and the secretarybird.
History[]
Isla Sorna Incident (1997)[]
Robert Burke mentions that the turkey vulture has the largest olfactory cavity of any creature in the fossil record when describing the Tyrannosaurus rex.
