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Black & Turkey vultures

Coragyps atratus, Cathartes aura

Photo by suzmonk
Published on Project Noah
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32.8291, -88.4767

Field Notes

Description:

Not great photos, but ... about 50 Black vultures and Turkey vultures roosting together in a pine tree, which can happen where ranges overlap. The two birds interact in feeding, too. Turkey vultures use smell in hunting, Black vultures can't, so they sometimes follow Turkey vultures to carrion.

Notes:

There was a fair bit of flapping around in the tree, with mostly Turkey vultures leaving to seek roosts in neighboring trees ... perhaps because Black vultures are more aggressive.

Reference Links:

Black vulture, Turkey vulture

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (2)
suzmonk
Thanks for the comment, hernandezwolf99. I was a little surprised ... I watch these Black vultures a lot because they have several favorite roosting places nearby, but I had never seen them hanging out with Turkey vultures. Turns out, it's not that unusual.

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Birds of the Southeast U.S.
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Birds of the World
Photographed
PublishedMay 17, 2014

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