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With sooty black plumage, a bare black head, and neat white stars under the wingtips, Black Vultures are almost dapper. Whereas Turkey Vultures are lanky birds with teetering flight, Black Vultures are compact birds with broad wings, short tails, and powerful wingbeats. The two species often associate: the Black Vulture makes up for its poor sense of smell by following Turkey Vultures to ...
- Overview
With sooty black plumage, a bare black head, and neat white...
- Similar Species
Dark-morph Red-tailed Hawks are more brown than black,...
- Life History
With sooty black plumage, a bare black head, and neat white...
- Overview
- Black Vultures vs. Turkey Vultures: The Main Differences
- Black Vulture vs Turkey Vulture: Size and Appearance
- Black Vulture vs Turkey Vulture: Habitat
- Black Vulture vs Turkey Vulture: Diet
- Black Vulture vs Turkey Vulture: Hunting Skills
- Black Vulture vs Turkey Vulture: Flying Skills
- Conclusion
There are several key differences between black vultures and turkey vultures. First, while turkey vultures can have a larger wingspan than black vultures, the compact nature of a black vulture provides them with steadier flight. Also, the appearance of the two birds is very different. While turkey vultures have red faces, black vultures are dark ac...
Black vultures
There is a reason that black vultures have the name they do – their plumage is mostly black, with their head being featherless and gray-black. Their legs are gray-white, and they have a small patch of white under their wings. Overall, these birds look like the Grim Reaper epitomized into a bird. When it comes to size, black vultures are around 2 ft. tall, with wingspans reaching upwards of 5 ft. Their large wingspan makes them some of the largest birds in North America. Weight is often depend...
Turkey vultures
Turkey vultures also get their name from their looks. With red heads and black-brown bodies, turkey vultures resemble their namesake, although they are much smaller. The undersides of their wings are brown and white, and their legs are light brown or black. Turkey vultures stand 2.5 ft. tall, and their wingspans can top 6 ft. Although their wingspan is larger than the black vulture, they are about the same weight, coming in around 3 lbs.
Size and Appearance Differences
Although the turkey vulture has a longer wingspan, they are known to be a bit unsteady in flight due to their strange proportions. Black vultures are stronger and more compact.
Black vultures
Black vultures are stated to be resident species. They range from the Northeastern United States, all the way down through Mexico and South America, as far south as Uraguay. Within this range, they prefer a mixture of open and forested areas, switching between the two with regularity. They also live in rural suburbs across most of the eastern US. They are often seen sitting on poles, congregating on cell towers, and on the ground eating roadkill.
Turkey vultures
Turkey vultures inhabit a similar range to that of the black vulture. They are present in the eastern United States, all the way south to the tip of South America. Turkey vultures generally prefer open woodlands and often roost or nest alongside black vultures. They can be seen soaring in the sky, often while driving through open forests or near roads. They are also seen while feeding on roadkill, often alongside black vultures.
Black vultures
Vultures are carrion eaters, meaning they eat dead and decaying material. Black vultures prefer small to medium-sized carcasses (deer, possums, and more) but have no issue feeding on reptiles, amphibians, birds, and fish. They almost exclusively eat dead meat, ensuring that it has been dead for a few days to make feeding easier.
Turkey vultures
Turkey vultures are also carrion eaters. A turkey vulture will eat almost anything that is dead, but their diet mostly consists of small to medium-sized mammals. They will also eat reptiles, other birds, and fishbut aren’t too picky. They usually wait until a carcass is able to be pulled apart since they aren’t strong enough to fully tear the flesh off of fresh kills. Roadkill is a common dietary source for turkey vultures.
Black vultures
Black vultures don’t really hunt due to their scavenging preference. Even if they did, their beak and talons are rather dull and weak when compared to other raptors like eaglesand hawks. They are occasionally known to kill small animals, but it’s usually only when the prey is incredibly sick and weak already. Since black vultures have no sense of smell, they rely on sight to find their prey.
Turkey vultures
Turkey vultures have little to no hunting ability, just like the black vulture. Their talons are too dull and weak to make catching food realistic. The main difference between the two birds, however, is their sense of smell. Turkey vultures have an incredible sense of smell (not common for vultures). They can smell carrion miles away, hidden under leaves or undergrowth. Turkey vultures are so much better at finding food than black vultures that black vultures often just wait and follow them i...
Black vultures
Vultures, as a general rule, are poor flyers. Black vultures are short and compact with relatively small wingspans comparatively. Still, their compact nature allows them to get powerful wingbeats in when they need to. When they don’t, they simply float on air thermals in their famous circular pattern, looking for food.
Turkey vultures
Turkey vultures are also bad flyers. Their wingspan is longer, but they are lankier than the black vulture. As a result, they can seem a bit wobblier in their flight patterns. Like the black vulture, they prefer to coast on air thermals instead of exerting energy on flying.
These two species are incredibly similar in all but appearance. They occupy the same environmental niches and even the same physical ranges. As a result, they live together, sleep together, and eat together. The main differences between the two are the turkey vulture’s ability to smell carrion and the black vultures slightly more compact build.
The black vulture ( Coragyps atratus ), also known as the American black vulture, Mexican vulture, zopilote, urubu, or gallinazo, is a bird in the New World vulture family whose range extends from the southeastern United States to Perú, Central Chile and Uruguay in South America. Although a common and widespread species, it has a somewhat more ...
Vultures 2 is the upcoming second studio studio album by the American hip hop supergroup ¥$, composed of rapper Kanye West and singer Ty Dolla Sign. Background and development [ edit ] On January 23, 2024, Ye revealed that a Vultures series would be released as a trilogy, with the first being released in February, the second on March 8, and ...
Description. 22-24" (56-61 cm). W. 4'6 (1.4 m). Very different shape from Turkey Vulture: stocky, short-tailed, with bigger head, broad wings. Soars with wings held flat, and its glides are often punctuated by several quick flaps. Whitish patch near wingtips shows up in flight. Head always dark gray.
3 days ago · The red-headed vulture (Sarcogyps calvus), often called the Pondicherry vulture or the Indian (black) vulture, is an Old World vulture ranging from Pakistan to Malaysia. It is about 75 cm (30 inches) long and has a wingspan of about 2.7 metres (8.9 feet).
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