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TURKEY
VULTURE
Cathartes aura
STATUS IN NEW ENGLAND: Common
HABITAT: Open lowlands and up into mountainous terrain.
FOOD: Virtually any dead animal down to the size of a tadpole.
This New World Vulture is thought to have the best sense of smell of all birds in North America. Turkey Vultures can smell spoiled meat from up to 40 miles away. They were once observed circling over leaks in a natural gas pipeline after engineers introduced ethyl mercaptan, the gas responsible for the pungent odor of spoiled meat, into the pipeline. Turkey Vultures are often spotted circling overhead on thermals created from the heat of the afternoon sun, flying with a deep V wing formation. Turkey Vultures are considered to be quite intelligent. We have even heard of a special society dedicated to their intelligence!
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Ken Mulcahy for ongoing updates.
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