Turkey Vulture

I don't feel the bond with turkey vultures that I do with corvids, but I do admire them.

Think of how they soar, how they love to ride drafts in groups. They are powerful and graceful fliers. I look forward to seeing them stream by during migration. 

Around here they theoretically shouldn't be living "north of the Thruway", but we see them far to the north and ask them if they know just how far north of the Thruway they are? They don't seem to care.

The other great thing about TVs is their ability to scavenge. They keep the landscape clean of carrion. I found this TV on a dirt road in north eastern Pennsylvania, having a meal with eight or ten others. They all flew into the nearby trees and refused to go far. They are skittish and shy but slow to move off when their lunch has been interrupted.

Turkey vultures are New World Vultures, Cathartidae, along with the black vulture further south, and the California condor, recently brought back from the brink of extinction.