Turkey Vultures are large, mostly blackish vultures with small, featherless, red heads that live predominantly in the Americas. They are a common sight soaring high in the sky using their large wings to ride thermals and cover vast distances without flapping as they search for carrion. Turkey Vultures get their name from the resemblance of the red skin on their heads to the red wattles on a male turkey’s face. But this bare red skin may make some people wonder – do Turkey Vultures have white heads? Read on to find out more about the heads and plumage of these fascinating scavengers.
What color are Turkey Vulture heads?
Turkey Vultures do not have white heads. The head of an adult Turkey Vulture is small relative to its body size and red in color, sometimes described as dull red or pinkish-red. This red head is featherless, or bald.
The lack of feathers allows the vulture’s head to stay clean when feasting messily on carrion. The red coloration may come from blood and other fluids staining the skin while scavenging. Having a red, featherless head is a key identifying feature of the Turkey Vulture.
Do turkey vultures have feathers on their heads?
No, Turkey Vultures do not have feathers covering their heads, neither as adults or as chicks. The bright red skin on the adult vulture’s head and neck is entirely bare with no feathers at all.
Even turkey vulture chicks hatch with bald heads. Their heads are initially covered in a grayish-blue skin, which becomes redder as they age. This featherless head helps keep mess from sticking to the vulture’s head as it plunges its head deep inside carcasses to feed.
What color are the body feathers of a turkey vulture?
While their heads are red and bare, turkey vultures have distinctive black plumage covering the rest of their bodies.
The body feathers are mostly blackish-brown. The flight feathers on the wings have a two-toned pattern with dark brown-black on the inner wing and paler gray-brown on the outer wing when seen up-close.
The underside of the flight feathers are also paler, which can be visible in flight. This gives the turkey vulture’s underside a slightly paler look from below.
Turkey vultures have black tails with a grayish band at the tip. Their legs are gray and their feet are pale in color.
Appearance of Turkey Vultures
Here are some key facts about the appearance of turkey vultures:
Plumage
- Adults are mostly blackish-brown overall
- Flight feathers are darker brown-black with pale gray edges
- Pale undersides to flight feathers, visible in flight
- Tail is black with pale band at tip
- Legs/feet pale gray
Head
- Small and featherless
- Bright red skin color as adults
- Blue-gray skin color as chicks, turning redder with age
- Small black eyes
- Nostrils open sideways to help locate scents
Size
- Length: 25-32 inches
- Wingspan: 67-72 inches
- Weigh 2.5-5 pounds
Turkey vultures have a distinctive silhouette in flight with broad, rounded wings held in a slight dihedral angle. Their relatively small heads can appear almost swallowed up by their large body size from a distance.
Turkey Vulture or Black Vulture?
Turkey vultures are often confused with black vultures due to their similar black plumage. But if you look closely, there are some notable differences between these two species:
Black Vulture:
- Entirely black plumage with no pale wing edges
- Shorter, broader wings than turkey vulture
- Smaller and more proportional head
- Gray head and neck with black facial skin
Turkey Vulture:
- Pale gray edges to outer wing feathers
- Long, more narrow wings
- Small red head compared to body size
- Featherless red head and neck
The turkey vulture’s two-toned wings, smaller head, and bare red head and neck are the best clues to tell it apart from the solid black plumage and gray headed black vulture in flight.
Why do Turkey Vultures have red heads?
There are a few possible reasons why turkey vultures evolved bald, red heads:
Thermoregulation
The bare head may help with thermoregulation. The lack of insulation provided by feathers allows heat to dissipate more easily from the head and neck to help cool the vulture. This is useful when feasting on a hot, rotting carcass in the sun.
Hygiene
The red head helps keep the vulture clean while feeding. Plunging one’s head deep inside a corpse to bite off chunks of meat is messy work! Having no feathers prevents bits of rotting meat, blood, and other messy fluids from clinging to the head while eating.
Social signaling
The bright red head may play a role in visual displays used for communication. For example, turkey vultures will expose their red heads while hissing at each other in aggression. The red color could help signal mood or emphasize threat displays.
Beauty
The bright red coloration may play a role in attracting mates, similar to the colorful heads of turkeys and other birds. So the red head could be an evolutionary signal of fitness used in mating as well as territory disputes.
Turkey Vulture head color by age
Turkey vultures have bald heads throughout life, but the color changes with age:
| Age | Head Color |
|---|---|
| Chick | Grayish-blue |
| Juvenile | Grayish-red |
| Subadult | Pinkish-red |
| Adult | Bright red |
As you can see, the head progresses from grayish-blue in newly hatched chicks to the bright red of full adults. The juveniles and subadults have heads that are duller shades of red compared to the vivid red heads of mature adults.
Why do chicks have blue heads?
The bluish color of newly hatched turkey vulture chicks probably has to do with the incomplete development of their skin at hatching. Over time, bare skin that is exposed to the elements can accumulate carotenoid pigments that lend it a reddish color. This pigmentation develops slowly over the first few years of life.
What is the Caruncle?
The fleshy red head and neck skin of turkey vultures and other vultures is sometimes referred to as a “caruncle.”
Caruncle refers to folds and flaps of bare skin around the head and neck of some bird species. Other birds with caruncles include:
- Turkeys
- Chickens
- Vultures
- Emus
In turkey vultures, the caruncle covers the entire head and upper neck. It can become quite wrinkled and folded, especially around the forehead.
The caruncle of turkeys also consists of fleshy red skin but is more bumpy with distinct flaps and protrusions rather than smooth skin. These caruncles become much more pronounced in males.
So in summary, the red head and neck skin of turkey vultures is referred to as a caruncle – a type of fleshy, non-feathered skin that is found on the heads of some bird species.
Do turkey vulture caruncles serve a purpose?
The caruncles of turkey vultures and other vulture species are thought to serve several possible purposes:
Thermoregulation
The bare caruncle allows heat to dissipate from the head to help cool the bird. Feathers would insulate the head and make cooling more difficult.
Hygiene
The caruncle stays cleaner when feeding on messy carcasses, preventing bacteria and rotting bits from sticking to feathers.
Social signaling
The skin colors may provide visual displays for communication. Bright red caruncles can be exposed and contrasted against black plumage as threats during disputes.
Beauty
Caruncles may be sexually selected traits used to attract mates, indicating fitness.
So in summary, the vulture’s caruncle likely provides thermoregulation, hygienic, social signaling and mating benefits – all useful adaptations for these scavengers.
Do turkey vultures have feathers on their necks?
No, turkey vultures do not have feathers on their necks. Just like their bare red heads, their necks are also featherless and covered in red skin called a caruncle. This bare red neck skin blends seamlessly into the red head with no division between the two.
The caruncle extends from the top of the beak and chin down towards the lower neck and chest before transitioning into the black body plumage. Having a featherless neck as well as head allows turkey vultures to fully immerse their heads inside carcasses to feed without feathers getting matted down with blood and gore.
Some key facts about the turkey vulture’s neck:
- Bare red skin matching the head
- Wrinkled and folded caruncle skin
- No defined division between head and neck
- Allows full immersion when feeding without soiling feathers
- May change color slightly when expressing emotion
So in summary, the turkey vulture’s neck is fully featherless and covered in red caruncle skin that is continuous with the facial skin. This allows them to feed messily while avoiding feather matting and buildup of rotting debris on their necks.
How do turkey vultures keep their heads and necks clean?
Turkey vultures have several adaptations that help them keep their bald heads and necks clean when feeding:
Urohidrosis
Turkey vultures excrete uric acid onto their legs and feet. This whitish fluid has antibacterial properties that help disinfect their skin when they rub their heads against their feet.
Sunning
Spreading their wings and exposing their skin to sunlight may help bake off bacteria. UV rays have disinfecting properties.
Preening
Turkey vultures use their beaks to meticulously preen any bits of rotting meat, fluids or other debris from their skin before it dries or becomes sticky.
Bathing
Turkey vultures will bathe in water sources to clean themselves off after particularly messy meals.
Self-anointing
Rubbing oils like camphor onto their skin may deter bacteria from growing.
Shaking off
Vigorous body shakes and head rolls can help slough off excess bits of carrion leftover from feeding sessions.
So in short, vultures utilize both chemical and mechanical cleansing behaviors to keep themselves squeaky clean! Their bald heads and necks allow them to gorge messily on carrion without all the hygienic troubles feathers would cause.
Conclusion
In summary:
- Turkey vultures do not have white heads. Their heads are featherless and red.
- The red head helps them feed cleanly, dissipate heat, and communicate visually.
- The red skin is called a caruncle and covers the head and neck.
- Chicks hatch with blue-gray skin that reddens with age.
- The caruncle likely serves thermoregulatory, hygienic, social and sexual functions.
- Turkey vultures keep their bare skin clean through urohidrosis, sunning, preening, bathing, and other adaptations.
So while turkey vultures sport vivid red heads, they definitely do not have white heads. Their unique bare red caruncles serve as an integral adaptation to the vulture lifestyle. Next time you see a turkey vulture soaring overhead, look closely at its head and marvel at this unusual avian adaptation!
