---
title: "Turkey Vulture"
description: "Cathartes aura — Birds. The turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) is the most widespread of the New World vultures."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/turkey-vulture
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Turkey Vulture

> Cathartes aura — Birds. The turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) is the most widespread of the New World vultures.

- Scientific name: *Cathartes aura*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `grassland` (Fields & meadows), `farm` (Farm), `savanna` (Savanna), `desert` (Desert)
- iNaturalist observations: 271763
- Wikidata: [Q245181](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q245181)
- iNaturalist taxon: [4756](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/4756)

## Names

- en: Turkey Vulture
- de: Truthahngeier
- es: Zopilote aura
- fr: Urubu à tête rouge
- nl: Roodkopgier
- pt: Urubu-de-cabeça-vermelha
- pl: Sępnik różowogłowy

## Countries with the most observations

US (177415), MX (26392), CA (25559), CR (2731), BR (2684), AR (2584), CL (2485), PE (1525), EC (1470), CO (1365), PA (1242), CU (746)

## Summary

The turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) is the most widespread of the New World vultures. One of three species in the genus Cathartes of the family Cathartidae, the turkey vulture ranges from southern Canada to the southernmost tip of South America. It inhabits a variety of open and semi-open areas, including subtropical forests, shrublands, pastures, and deserts.
Like all New World vultures, it is not closely related to the Old World vultures of Europe, Africa, and Asia. However, the two groups strongly resemble each other due to convergent evolution.
The turkey vulture is a scavenger and feeds almost exclusively on…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_vulture

## Photo

![Turkey Vulture](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/turkey-vulture/medium.jpg)

Photo: allan Reid · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/220708656

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/turkey-vulture?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).