The turkey vulture is a large and unique-looking scavenger. It has a featherless red head and dark plumage. However, despite its distinct appearance, there are a handful of other birds that look like turkey vultures. The following are the most similar-looking species.
Wild Turkey
The turkey vulture actually got its name because up close it looks quite like a male wild turkey. Both of these birds have dark plumage and a bald red head. However, the similarities end there. The wild turkey is a large game bird and it spends most of its time on the ground.
It’s a fast runner and if it can’t outrun a threat it will fly. Although this turkey-vulture-like bird can only fly for relatively short distances. The male wild turkey has a distinct “gobble,” which makes it a very easy species to identify.
Black Vulture
The black vulture is a close relative of the turkey vulture. It has black plumage and instead of a red head its bald head is gray. Sometimes when a turkey vulture is far away or flying high up, its red head appears dark and it’s mistaken for the black vulture.
The black vulture can be distinguished from the turkey vulture in flight by its white wingtips yet solid black wings. These two species do sometimes roost together and are sometimes seen at carcasses together as well. However typically while black vultures will follow turkey vultures to a carcass they will normally kick them off of it once they land.
Greater Yellow-Headed Vulture
The greater yellow-headed vulture is a South American vulture. It is also known as the forest vulture because of its preference for forested habitats. This species has a bald head that as its name suggests is yellow in color (although it can range to a pale orange). Similar to the turkey vulture it can locate its food by both vision and its sense of smell.
Lesser Yellow-Headed Vulture
While today it is considered a separate species, in the past the lesser yellow-headed vulture was considered to be the same species as the greater yellow-headed vulture. It has black plumage and a bald head which is pale orange with red or blue.
It is slightly smaller than the greater yellow-headed vulture. This species can also locate its food with its vision or using its sense of smell similar to the turkey vulture. Because of its preference for living in savannas, it is also called the savanna vulture.
California Condor
The California condor is another bald-headed bird that looks like a turkey vulture. And as a condor, it is part of the vulture family. This is an enormous species and is considered to be the largest land bird in North America. It also has the largest wingspan of any North American bird as well.
This species is believed to be the basis for the “thunderbird,” the mythical creature in many Native American stories. It is a very long-lived bird that has black plumage except for large triangular patches on the underside of the wings.
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