{"id":38664,"date":"2016-04-22T04:40:06","date_gmt":"2016-04-22T10:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=38664"},"modified":"2025-09-16T06:46:55","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T11:46:55","slug":"two-bald-headed-birds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/04\/22\/two-bald-headed-birds\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Bald Headed Birds – Roseate Spoonbill & Turkey Vulture"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TurkeyTurkey Vulture at sun rise – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/320, ISO 500, -1.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Two bald headed birds, but very different in appearance, one is a vulture who cleans up the earth and the other a wading bird with pink and carmine plumage. This Turkey Vulture was photographed yesterday morning in Box Elder County, Utah as the sun rose. The vulture was perched on a fence rail of a corral and it may have spent the night roosting there. After the vulture warmed up it probably lifted off to soar on the thermals until it found something to eat.<\/p>\n

\"RoseateRoseate Spoonbill in a lagoon – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/800, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

This is a mature Roseate Spoonbill in nonbreeding plumage. I couldn’t resist photographing these cotton candy pink wading birds when I lived in Florida and aimed my lens at them whenever I had the opportunity. This one was photographed in the evening at Fort De Soto County Park in Florida in 2009 as the spoonbill foraged for food in a tidal lagoon.<\/p>\n

Some people find birds with featherless heads unappealing, odd or even ugly. Me, I think all birds are wonderful.<\/p>\n

Life is good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Roseate Spoonbill photos plus facts and information. Click here<\/span><\/a> to view more of my Turkey Vulture photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two bald headed birds, but very different in appearance, one is a vulture who cleans up the earth and the other a wading bird with pink and carmine plumage. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":156153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,1148,25,704,2000,177,1315,26],"tags":[5105,2663,4322,4266,1481,4811,2443,4617,313],"class_list":["post-38664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-roseate-spoonbills","category-turkey-vultures","category-utah","tag-bald-headed","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-cathartes-aura","tag-platalea-ajaja","tag-roseate-spoonbill","tag-spoonbills","tag-turkey-vulture","tag-vultures","tag-wading-birds"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-perched-mia-mcpherson-1582.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-a3C","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9493,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/09\/19\/turkey-vultures-might-not-be-pretty-but-they-are-awesome-at-what-they-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":38664,"position":0},"title":"Turkey Vultures Might Not Be Pretty But They Are Awesome At What They Do","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"A bald red head, dark plumage and a white tipped bill isn't something that most people think of as handsome, regal or even good looking but Turkey Vultures are awesome at what they do.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Turkey Vulture getting ready to lift off, Snowville, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/turkey-vulture-mia-mcpherson-utah-7471.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/turkey-vulture-mia-mcpherson-utah-7471.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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McPherson","date":"September 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Sure, vultures aren't are handsome as Bald Eagles but they do serve an ecological function of cleaning up carrion so in essence they are nature's recyclers.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mature Black Vulture on post, Lettuce Lake, Hillsborough County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/black-vulture-adult-mia-mcpherson-8191.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/black-vulture-adult-mia-mcpherson-8191.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/black-vulture-adult-mia-mcpherson-8191.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/black-vulture-adult-mia-mcpherson-8191.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":82579,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/03\/28\/spring-turkey-vulture-and-a-view-from-the-road\/","url_meta":{"origin":38664,"position":3},"title":"Spring Turkey Vulture And A View From The Road","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 28, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I was able to photograph a spring Turkey Vulture warming up in the morning light from a rural road in Box Elder County.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spring Turkey Vulture warming up in morning light, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/turkey-vulture-spring-mia-mcpherson-0751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/turkey-vulture-spring-mia-mcpherson-0751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/turkey-vulture-spring-mia-mcpherson-0751.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/turkey-vulture-spring-mia-mcpherson-0751.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":37907,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/04\/05\/more-owls-turkey-vultures-plus-a-third-year-bald-eagle\/","url_meta":{"origin":38664,"position":4},"title":"More Owls, Turkey Vultures Plus A Third Year Bald Eagle","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 5, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I mentioned in my post about Short-eared Owls yesterday that I saw Burrowing Owls, Turkey Vultures and a third year Bald Eagle juvenile in northern Utah so I thought I would share a few more images form the northern Utah excursion.","rel":"","context":"In "Bald Eagles"","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Third year Bald Eagle in Box Elder County, Utah. 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