Turkey Vulture

Two days ago was Buzzard Day, and despite the different nomenclature that holiday celebrates the (approximate) return date of Turkey Vultures to an Ohio town. It seems appropriate to show one of our local Turkey Vultures this week, especially since I get so many pictures of them. (I've toyed with doing a "Vulture of the Week" and/or a "Heron of the Week" just to work through all the pictures I've gotten of these birds.)

Though here in the Western Hemisphere the name "buzzard" refers to our vultures (including the Black Vulture here in the US), in Europe the name "buzzard" refers to hawks, especially buteos. In most of the world, buzzards tend to be "hunters who sometimes scavenge" rather than "scavengers who rarely hunt". So if you're talking about buzzards with someone from another part of the world, you may not be talking about the same type of bird.

October 14, 2022 at Duke Farms
Photo 250352683, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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