Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Material on this page was provided by Paul Smith, Alberto Esquivel, Arne Lesterhuis, Nelson Pérez, José Luis Cartes and David Gill and is used with their permission.
TURKEY VULTURE Cathartes aura
He looks ugly with his naked red head, but once in the air he is a master of his craft, soaring high and tilting gently on V-shaped wings. Like other vultures he is mainly a carrion feeder, forming a valuable clean-up service in nature. The Turkey Vulture is a common species, but distinguished with difficulty from the similar Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture. If you can`t see the colour of the head note the wing pattern - Turkey has silver only on the underside of the flight feathers, LYH also shows silver on the upperside of the primaries.
Click on the images to enlarge them.
FIGURE 1 - (FPAVE1760PH) Adult perched, Estancia Cachiveo, Departamento Presidente Hayes (Arne Lesterhuis May 2007).
FIGURE 2 - (FPAVE1761PH) Same individual as (FPAVE1760PH) wings extended dorsal view (Arne Lesterhuis May 2007).
FIGURE 3 - (FPAVE3351PH) Adult, Rio Piratiy, Departamento Canindeyú (Nelson Pérez February 2012).
FIGURE 4 - (FPAVE1762PH) Adult perched, Fundación La Piedad, Departamento Presidente Hayes (José Luis Cartes June 2004).
FIGURE 5 - (FPAVE2903PH) Adult feeding on roadkill Crab-eating Raccoon, Ruta Trans Chaco km290, Departamento Presidente Hayes (Paul Smith August 2011).
FIGURE 6 - (FPAVE1763PH) Adult perched, Estancia Ruoti, Departamento San Pedro (José Luis Cartes May 2003).
FIGURE 7 - (FPAVE1764PH) Adult soaring, Naranjaty, Departamento Presidente Hayes (Alberto Esquivel July 2004).
FIGURE 8 - (FPAVE1765PH) Adult soaring, PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (David Gill March 2008).
FIGURE 9 - (FPAVE2788PH) Juvenile, PN Serranía San Luís, Departamento Concepción (Paul Smith August 2011).
FIGURE 10 - (FPAVE3461PH) Juvenile, Tres Gigantes, Departamento Alto Paraguay (Paul Smith JuLY 2012).
VIDEO A - (FPAVE1766VI) Adult perched, PN Tte Enciso, Departamento Boquerón (Paul Smith September 2010).
VIDEO B - (FPAVE2787VI) Flock perched, Cerro León, Departamento Alto Paraguay (Paul Smith July 2011).
FIGURE 1

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2

FIGURE 2
FIGURE 3

FIGURE 3
FIGURE 4

FIGURE 4
FIGURE 5

FIGURE 5
FIGURE 6

FIGURE 6
FIGURE 7

FIGURE 7
FIGURE 8

FIGURE 8
FIGURE 9

FIGURE 9
FIGURE 10

FIGURE 10