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Turkey Vulture; Turkey Buzzard
Adult--Black tinged with brown; head and neck red, bare of feathers.
Length--About 30.00.
Breeding Range--From New Jersey southward; accidental in New England.
The eggs are laid inside a hollow log or stump, or on the ground, often beneath palmetto or small bushes in fairly open places, or among rocks; the eggs are yellowish or grayish white, splashed with chocolate and black, chiefly at the larger end; the number varies from 1 to 4. Size--2.75x1.90. See Fig, 1, Plate A.
These birds, so graceful in flight yet so awkward when on the ground, are perhaps the most useful of the southern birds; as they, with their near relatives, the black vultures, are the scavengers that leave no track or trace of anything that might pollute the air. The question, on which so much has been written and which has, I believe, never been satisfactorily decided, is whether it is by the sense of smell or sight that these birds discover the whereabouts of food; that their sight is wonderful must be admitted, while their power of smelling does not appear to be at all remarkable. It is scarcely possible that a bird flying at a height that renders him scarcely visible to the naked eye, and which must be at least several thousand feet, should be able to get the scent of anything on the earth while the wind is blowing at the rate of fifteen or twenty miles an hour; yet when I have skinned a small animal and thrown down the body, the birds, that were seen to be flying at an immense height, immediately descended and attacked the carcass. Another time, in order to test their olfactory nerves, I took an alligator that had been dead several days, and at night cut it in half; the one-half was hidden by a piece of sacking. These two pieces were placed about thirty feet apart, and in the morning both black vultures and turkey vultures were there in numbers. After finishing the exposed half, they jumped about after their usual fashion and actually stood upon the covered portion, but its presence was not discovered by them. Surely, if they had such a highly developed sense of smell, they would not have acted in this way.
The young are covered with white down for some time after being hatched, and if handled have the disagreeable habit of disgorging offensive matter; so it is advisable to leave them alone. The breeding season begins in April.