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Turkey Vulture

Turkey vultures have excellent daytime eyesight and search for carrion while they catch warm updrafts and soar in the sky.

Turkey vultures roost in large groups on dead, leafless trees.

A body length of 2.5 feet and a 6-foot wingspan and their body weight is only 2 to 4 pounds.

Their beaks are powerful enough to rip through the hide of a dead deer or cow. With no vocal organ, turkey vultures are only able to grunt or make low hisses, but their sense of smell is rare in the bird world. They can smell carrion that’s less than 12 to 24 hours old from more than a mile away. They want mammal meat as fresh as possible from carnivorous mammals and will not eat extremely rotted carcasses.

turkey vulture

http://iawildlife.org/blog/beautifying-the-iowa-landscape-one-roadkill-at-a-time/

https://www.iowadnr.gov/About-DNR/DNR-News-Releases/ArticleID/532/Turkey-Vultures-Don%E2%80%99t-Deserve-the-Bad-Rap-Cool-Facts-on-These-Iowa-Scavengers