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Turkey Vultures

Turkey Vultures


Vultures are large birds of prey closely related to hawks and eagles.
They are divided into New World vultures and Old World vultures, both belonging
to the order Falconiformes.   The New World vultures, in the family Cathartidae,
consist of seven species in five genera.   Among the New World vultures include
the Cathartes aura, also known as the Turkey Vulture.
Scientists say that turkey vultures are shy, inoffensive birds.   Some
researchers have discovered that the bird is very helpful to the environment.
Its habit of cleaning up decaying and diseased carcasses makes it a sanitary
engineer par excellence, while its keen sense of smell has been pressed into
service to find wasteful and dangerous gas leaks.   And the vulture's unique
knack for conserving energy has intrigued scientists for years.
Although the turkey vulture has a large, turkeylike body and sporty red
head, it is not even distantly related to the turkey.   Instead, turkey vultures-
along with their cousins in the United States, the black vulture of the South
and East, and the nearly extinct California condor-belong to a group of raptors
called New World vultures.   Chromosome analysis shows that the New World
vultures are actually more closely related to storks than to the vultures of
Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Turkey vultures are remarkably successful birds.   They range everywhere
from parts of Canada and much of the United States to South America.   At home in
deserts, prairies and woodlands, they have even settled close to people in a
number of urban and suburban areas.
Observed in flight, the turkey vulture appears black with the underside
of its wings grayish or silvery, giving the birds a two-toned appearance.   They
characteristically hold their wings in a slight V, or dihedral, thus aiding
identification.   On rare occasions, they hold their wings flat and eagle-like
which, if seen at a great distance, may cause the birds to resemble eagles.   In
flight, the turkey vulture holds...