Can someone please help me find out what this raptor is?

[sfw2]

It's a turkey vulture. We have loads of them around here. I've never seen one take live prey, but the locals keep them well supplied with roadkill, so I guess there's no need!!

 

[ivan3]

Shot #2 is definitely a Turkey Vulture. We have a lot of them here (some don't even bother to head south the the Lake of the Ozarks during the winter anymore). They circle us, riding the thermals, when we're out in the stream drainages hunting fossils.

They get plenty of excess raccoon to eat, here.

A BYC member kept an injured (lost a wing to something) Turkey Vulture and nursed it back to health. Apparently, if certain dietary habits were overlooked, it was a pretty good old bird.

A recycler at one of our Turkey Vulture feeding stations:

 

[redhen]

Quote:

lol..they are ugly things!

 

[Cetawin]

hahaha Told you they are the ugliest critter on the planet. eeeeewwwww

 

[amazondoc]

Quote:
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

The tame vulture I used to know was a black vulture, named Greep. They have funny personalities, pretty entertaining.

 

[ivan3]

What they lack in looks they make up for in efficiency. Six Turkey Vultures will reduce a big raccoon to fur and bones in less than two hours.

 

[amarook]

We have Turkey Vultures around here. They soar a lot.
This looks like them.

 

[Faverolle]

Quote:
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

The tame vulture I used to know was a black vulture, named Greep. They have funny personalities, pretty entertaining.

Funny personalities, I guess you can call it that? The ones that I used to work with would throw up if they got too nervous. lol

 

[tim_TX]

Vultures do not swoop down and attack living creatures. They are natures scavengers, eating only what is already dead.

 

[goobhen]

I have a question, I have three big birds that live in the woods by me. They are not hawks, they are simply too large. I know that we have vultures, I found one eating a puppy that some idiot dumped on our road!!! Very large bird, had a really funny take-off, but once up in the air, just soared!! Now the three big birds, they look like these birds, except that they were checking out the squirrels in my woods, they checked out my dog (Jack Russell sized). They heard the squirrel and kept buzzing his tree. They decided my dogs were too big. The 3 birds can't be vultures if vultures don't go after live animals. We have a mated pair of owls, they aren't horned owls, no horns, but they have a barred pattern. These were not owls. I do not have any pictures, same as others, if they just see me, they will soar over my head. See the camara, they fly away!! PS: I don't think vultures are ugly, unigue but not ugly