turkey vulture

a blackish-brown vulture, Cathartes aura, from the southern U.S. to South America, having a bare, wrinkled, red head and neck. Also called turkey buzzard. See illus. under vulture.

[1815-25, Amer.]

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or turkey buzzard

Species (Cathartes aura) of long-winged, long-tailed vulture (family Cathartidae), about 30 in.

(75 cm) long, with dark plumage, whitish beak and legs, bare red head covered with whitish bumps, and a 6-ft (1.8-m) wingspread. It uses its keen sense of smell to find carrion. It occurs throughout the Americas except in northern Canada; the northerly and southernmost populations are migratory.

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▪ bird

also called  Turkey Buzzard 

 (Cathartes aura), long-winged, long-tailed vulture (family Cathartidae, the New World vultures) that has dark plumage, a whitish beak, white legs, and a bare red head (black in immature birds) that is covered with whitish bumps. Its wingspread is about 1.8 m (6 feet), and its length is about 75 cm (30 inches). The turkey vulture has an elaborate olfactory canal and uses its keen sense of smell in finding food. The bird subsists predominantly on carrion. The species occurs throughout the Americas except northern Canada; northerly and southernmost populations are migratory. The one to three eggs, which are white with brown spots, are laid in a crude nest; the sexes share incubation. Hatching takes place in five or six weeks.

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