Cathartes aura

Spending this weekend in town in order to prepare for my move to Yosemite in a few days. Parked the van out in the Arcata bottoms (pasture lands) last night and caught sight of a few perching Turkey Vultures there this morning.

The Turkey is a New World vulture, unrelated to the vultures of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Though like those species, this one is free of feathers on its head. This allows them to jam their heads in rotting carcasses and not contract diseases that would otherwise take hold in their feathers. It's found in all of South and Central America, and in the United States during the breeding season.