{"id":51839,"date":"2018-04-27T05:15:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-27T11:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=51839"},"modified":"2025-02-05T04:48:12","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T10:48:12","slug":"turkey-vultures-aka-turkey-buzzards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/04\/27\/turkey-vultures-aka-turkey-buzzards\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkey Vultures aka Turkey Buzzards"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult Turkey Vulture in morning light – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 640, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I grew up calling Turkey Vultures by the name “Turkey Buzzards” and every once in a blue moon I still unintentionally slip and call them by their nickname instead of their proper common name. I’m not going to feel bad about slipping up though, stuff happens. I don’t actually remember the first time I saw a Turkey Vulture but I do remember seeing them as a small girl living in southern Georgia and Florida picking up and eating carrion from the sides of the road. Back then I thought their choice of food was more than a little disgusting, especially if I could smell it, but I found the birds themselves to be interesting and huge compared to my small size.<\/p>\n

Today there are times I even go so far as to think that Turkey Vultures are regal looking and I know that there are people out there that would disagree with me but looking at the photo above I do think this bird is “regal looking”.<\/p>\n

\"BackBack view of an adult Turkey Vulture – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 640, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

At times I even think they are mysterious looking too. I don’t think of them as ugly and I appreciate them for what they are and do.<\/p>\n

I took these Turkey Vulture photos yesterday morning and I was happy that this vulture and the one perched a few feet away on another fence post decided to stick around long enough for me to take images of both of them in the soft morning light.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Turkey Vulture in flight over sage, rabbitbrush and grasses – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 640, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

When I noticed that one of the Turkey Vultures appearing like it might take flight I quickly took off my teleconverter so I wouldn’t clip wing tips and body parts so when it did take flight I was able to take photos of the one bird while it flew low over the sage, rabbitbrush and grasses. I love it when a plan works out!<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good. Birds make it better.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I grew up calling Turkey Vultures by the name “Turkey Buzzards” and every once in a blue moon I still unintentionally slip and call them by their nickname instead of their proper common name.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":139281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1148,1315,26],"tags":[4004,5180,2663,4322,4052,4122,4109,4099,4104,4289,2817,6467,2443,4618,4617],"class_list":["post-51839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-turkey-vultures","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-back-view","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-cathartes-aura","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-grasses","tag-morning-light","tag-perched","tag-rabbitbrush","tag-sage","tag-turkey-buzzard","tag-turkey-vulture","tag-vulture","tag-vultures"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/turkey-vulture-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-5370.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-du7","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":46572,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/05\/04\/roadside-turkey-vultures\/","url_meta":{"origin":51839,"position":0},"title":"Roadside Turkey Vultures – Facts and Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I took way too many images of several approachable roadside Turkey Vultures sunning, preening, scratching and resting but I am happy with the photos of the birds.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sunning Turkey Vulture, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/turkey-vulture-sunning-mia-mcpherson-8995.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/turkey-vulture-sunning-mia-mcpherson-8995.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/turkey-vulture-sunning-mia-mcpherson-8995.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 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McPherson","date":"May 26, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"In April there was a bright, sunny morning when I had several opportunities to photograph adult Turkey Vultures warming up after a chilly night by thermoregulating.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Close up of an adult Turkey Vulture thermoregulating in Box Elder County, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/turkey-vulture-thermoregulating-close-up-left-mia-mcpherson-2298.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-thermoregulating-close-up-left-mia-mcpherson-2298.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/turkey-vulture-thermoregulating-close-up-left-mia-mcpherson-2298.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/turkey-vulture-thermoregulating-close-up-left-mia-mcpherson-2298.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":52571,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/06\/13\/photographing-turkey-vultures-on-a-june-morning\/","url_meta":{"origin":51839,"position":3},"title":"Photographing Turkey Vultures On A June Morning","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"As a bird photographer I have found that it is easy to make any species of owl look interesting and appealing in my images but it is more of a challenge to do that with Turkey Vultures but that doesn't mean I don't try. I will always try.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Turkey Vulture in front of a sage covered hillside, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-sage-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-1411.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-sage-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-1411.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-sage-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-1411.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-sage-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-1411.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":156105,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/09\/16\/immature-turkey-vulture-photos-from-oklahoma\/","url_meta":{"origin":51839,"position":4},"title":"Immature Turkey Vulture Photos From Oklahoma","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I was delighted to take immature Turkey Vulture photos at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge along with some images of adults.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Turkey Vulture thermoregulating in Oklahoma, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-sequoyah-immature-mia-mcpherson-8656.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-sequoyah-immature-mia-mcpherson-8656.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-sequoyah-immature-mia-mcpherson-8656.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-sequoyah-immature-mia-mcpherson-8656.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":126457,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/29\/turkey-vultures-are-heading-to-their-breeding-grounds\/","url_meta":{"origin":51839,"position":5},"title":"Turkey Vultures Are Heading To Their Breeding Grounds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 29, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A little birdie told me that they easily saw more than 60 turkey vultures flying over St. George two evenings ago. 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