Turkey Vulture
Updated: Sep 13
Third on my list of Five Finest Feathered Friends. No other bird soars in the warm thermal updrafts quite like a Turkey Vulture—wings stretched and feathered fingers splayed; together as wide as sliding patio doors—wobbly but gracefully drifting to higher elevations or descending to near ground level to catch the scent of or see carrion. Of the nearly two hundred resident and part-time bird species in the Southern Gulf Islands, those that spend much of their time along the ocean shorelines, with their eyes on a meal, are the ones I enjoy seeing most.
The others on my Five Finest Feathered Friends list are: Great Blue Heron • Bald Eagle • Cormorants • Black Oystercatcher.
Table of Contents
Photographs, videos, audio, and text Copyright © 2026 Richard Philpot/SGIOUTSIDE.ca.
Wings spread wide, a Turkey Vulture rides the warm thermal updrafts high above the Swanson Channel shoreline at Oaks Bluff Park on North Pender Island.
Turkey Vulture—Oh soaring and scavenging one
“The Turkey Vulture is one of the more common birds you will see from the viewpoint at Henderson Park. They can often be seen gliding along, or riding thermal updrafts. Easily identified by their bald red heads. Turkey Vultures have many interesting habits, and play an important role within our ecosystems—disposing of dead things. They are one of the few bird species that can detect carrion by smell.
“If you were to surprise this undertaker of the animal world during its dinner, it would vomit in self-defence. This is not an attempt to gross you out, but to become lighter so that it can fly away. Turkey Vultures will gorge themselves to the point of immobility because they never know when their next meal may be. As you can imagine, a creature that feeds on dead animals has to overcome some unique hygiene challenges. Their iconic bare red heads are an adaptation to avoid getting bits of food stuck in their feathers when ‘digging deep’ for a tasty bite. The Turkey Vulture will often urinate on its own legs to kill any bacteria picked up while eating, and to cool its legs through evaporation.
“Did you know that circling vultures are usually not a sign of a dead or dying animal? Turkey Vultures and many other bird species float upwards on warm rising air currents to avoid expending energy. This strategy allows them to fly great distances without flapping their wings by gliding from one air current to another. In fact, local Turkey Vultures migrate each year as far away as Venezuela, nearly 7,000 km!
“The best time to view these birds is in late September. During this time, large numbers congregate on Southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands before crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca on their journey south for the winter.”
— Borrowed from the Turkey Vultures educational sign at the high point on the Vulture Ridge Viewpoint Trail/Henderson Park on Mayne Island.
“I [Pender Island’s Dave Manning] got closer, and sure enough, it was a white, fuzzy ball with a black beak hissing at me. I’d never seen anything like it. My heart was absolutely racing. I was completely hooked. It was immediate love and appreciation.”
The Vulture Watcher Hakai Magazine (December 2019).
Species profile: Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
Category: Hawk-like birds.
Status: BC Conservation Data Centre (CDC): Yellow (species is not of concern of being lost).
Seasonal Abundance: Common local seasonal resident; arriving by March to breed and departing by October; some winter here; migrate in flocks, seen in kettles—circle together, riding the rising columns of warm air (thermal); in September, large flocks coast over the southern tip of Vancouver Island, counting the days for suitable winds to take them across the Strait of Juan de Fuca; as many as 300 pairs may breed in British Columbia.
Range: Southern Canada to South America.
Habitat: Close to forested bluffs: roost on dead trees and fence posts; open areas like clear-cuts and farmland.
Description: Size—65-80 centimetres (approx. 25“-31”); wingspan—to 1.8 metres (6’); weigh 2 kilograms (approx. 4.5 lbs); small, featherless red/pinkish head with pale, hooked bill; dark-brown, two-toned wings (trailing edge and wingtips lighter on the underside), long, dark tail, and pale pink legs; females and males look practically identical; juveniles have a grey-black head (when they return in spring, their heads are red).
Flight: Graceful but wobbly in flight, with wingtip “fingers” and a rounded tail that extends past its toes; rides thermals to higher elevations or glides close to the ground to catch the scent or see carrion; preserves steadiness and lift at low altitudes by shaping its wings in a slight upward V and rocking from side to side; few wingbeats, seldom more than ten (relies on updrafts and weather fronts to propel them along).
Calls: Seldom heard; when it is, a hiss or grunt; listen to Turkey Vulture sounds at Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birds.
Vision & Sense of Smell: High-magnification vision; can spot the remains of a small animal from up to 1.5 km away (approx. 1 mi); unequalled sense of smell, possessing the largest olfactory bulb in the bird world, “can detect the scent of rotting flesh in concentrations as tiny as a few parts per billion in the air.”
Diet: Carrion (preferably when it’s not too rotten), from dead black-tailed deer, rodents, and garter snakes to salmon, harbor seals, and sea lions, plus intertidal life like sea stars, and even wildflowers and corn and pumpkins crops; master scavenger, “When they find a carcass, they go for the eyes first, the anus, all the soft tissue. Their beaks aren’t that sharp. They can’t go through the skin of a deer, so they wait for the ravens and the bald eagles to get inside.”; stomach juices are so acidic it can digest almost anything without getting ill (even carcasses with disease); can’t fly away with their food discovery; may be seen in small groups consuming their prey.
Nesting: Lay eggs in a depression on the ground in little-disturbed and hidden rocky locations (cliff crevices, caves, piled rocks) and in closed-canopy forest habitats under fallen tree trunks.
Reproduction: Thought to mate for life; lay eggs in April, clutch size of 1-2 eggs (3 is a rarity); incubation as long as 40 days, hatching in May; nestlings are dependent on adults for survival; both parents care for their young, take turns incubating their eggs, then feed them regurgitated food (for 2.5 months or longer); by July, chicks explore beyond the nest, fledge at 9-10 weeks (nearly the size of their parents); practice flying for weeks before fall migration south.
Life Expectancy: 17 years.
Stressors & Threats: Predators of chicks include Bald Eagles, Ravens, River Otters, Raccoons, and rats.
Other Facts: 1) Name comes from their red, featherless head, similar to a wild turkey’s. Researchers once thought their smooth head prevented them from soiling their feathers when rooting through a carcass, but new science has revealed it’s to keep their bald head cool. 2) Non-aggressive; when threatened, they may play dead (transforming their head and neck colour to near white by draining away the blood) or vomit their last meal on predatory birds or animals (including humans).
My Other Favourite Finest Feathered Friends (left to right): Great Blue Heron • Cormorants • Black Oystercatcher • Bald Eagle
Great Blue Heron having speared a fresh meal in the Thieves Bay shallows (North Pender Island). 
Double-crested Cormorants nests on high cliffs on Mandarte Island's southwest shore. 
Black Oystercatchers landing on Sidney Spit, Sidney Island. 
A Bald Eagle stalking its prey on a Southern Gulf Island rock outcrop.
Birding in the SGI
The climate and location of the Southern Gulf Islands make the area an important year-round residence, a winter destination, and a migratory flyway. Mid-April to mid-May is the ideal time for birding, when winter and summer birds overlap, though there are plenty to see year-round. A field guide, a smartphone bird app like Merlin, and binoculars are necessities. A spotting scope is even better for viewing raptors, like Bald Eagles and water and shorebirds. Of the hundreds of bird species to be sighted in the SGI, not all are common to all islands.
In addition to my Five Finest Feathered Friends, birders can look forward to sightings of Belted Kingfishers, Common Ravens, Rufous Hummingbirds, Pileated Woodpeckers, California Quail, Trumpeter Swans, Pacific Loons, and a great many other shorebirds and songbirds. See the eBird: Bird Lists by SGI locations (below) for extensive inventories of species seen in various places.
Birding ethics: So that no harm comes to the birds or the environment
Three things to keep in mind when observing our feathered friends.
Keep your distance. As exciting as it is to get “this close” to a particular bird or a nest, remember that if you’re so close that the bird leaves, you’re too close. The bird will fly to safety, and may do so at the risk of leaving eggs or chicks unprotected from predators. I have unwittingly caused too many birds to take flight in the past and now adhere to a 100-metre rule. With binoculars, I can see the bird clearly from 100 metres as it goes about its normal routine. Keeping your distance also applies to your dog; please don’t let your four-legged friend take chase.
Leave no trace. Do your best not to damage the bird’s natural environment. Remove everything that you bring with you. Leaving garbage, in particular picnic food scraps, may attract predators. Please DO NOT feed wild birds.
Let nature be. A bird may appear abandoned or in distress, but probably isn’t. Young birds on the ground likely are learning to fly. Don’t worry; a parent is undoubtedly close by and will return as soon as you leave. Even a bird that appears injured or dead may not be. If it’s a hummingbird, it may be in a state of torpor—a dormant, inactive state of hibernation (in other words, this high-energy bird is simply resting). If you are certain a bird is injured, contact a local veterinarian or recognized wildlife rescue organization before touching or moving it.
Master scavenger, a Turkey Vulture scanning the shoreline for carrion: salmon or a seal carcass.
Good locations in the SGI to see a Turkey Vulture
Vulture Ridge Viewpoint Trail/Henderson Park (Mayne Island), Oaks Bluff Park, George Hill Park, and Mount Menzies/Crooked Tree Lookout (North Pender Island), Mount Maxwell Park and Mount Erskine Park (Salt Spring Island), Mount Parke (Mayne Island), Brown Ridge (Saturna Island), Mount Galiano Nature Preserve and The Viewpoint Trail/The Bluffs (Galiano Island).
*eBird: Bird Lists by SGI locations highlighted in SGI Outside
The side menu in the linked eBird Bird Lists lets you view the Iconic Birds of that location and the best time to see them. eBird: Bird Lists are constantly evolving (SGI Outside regularly updates the number shown below).
See the eBird Hotspot Map for the Southern Gulf Islands.
North Pender Island
George Hill Park (GINPR): 99 species seen since 2017 (eBird)
Medicine Beach Nature Sanctuary—138 species since 2013 (eBird)
Mount Menzies (GINPR): 34 species seen since 2022 (eBird)
Roe Islet Trail, Roesland (GINPR): 101 species seen since 2015 (eBird)
South Pender Island
Beaumont Marine Park (GINPR): 80 species since 1989 (eBird)
Brooks Point Regional Park (CRD): 155 species since 1998 (eBird)
Greenburn Lake (GINPR): 110 species since 2004 (eBird)
Mount Norman Summit (GINPR): 89 species since 2007 (eBird)
Salt Spring Island
Mount Maxwell Park (BC Parks): 88 species since 1996 (eBird)
Mount Erskine Park (BC Parks): 75 species since 2015 (eBird)
Reginald Hill (SSIPARC/CRD): 57 species since 2023 (eBird)
Ruckle Park (BC Parks): 155 species since 1979 (eBird)
W̱EN,NÁ,NEĆ Tsawout First Nations Trail: 63 species since 2024 (eBird)
Mayne Island
Campbell Point (GINPR)/Bennett Bay: 140 species since 2018 (eBird)
Georgina Point Heritage Park & Lighthouse (GINPR): 98 species since 2003 (eBird)
Mount Parke (CRD): 81 species seen since 1996 (eBird)
St. John Point Regional Park (CRD): 64 species seen since 2023 (eBird)
Saturna Island
Xwiwxwyus (kwik-wi-us)/Winter Cove (GINPR): 143 species since 1973 (eBird)
Brown Ridge (GINPR/Campbell Farm): 88 species since 1973 (eBird)
East Point Whale Trail/East Point Regional Park (GINPR/CRD): 164 species since 1989 (eBird)
Narvaez Bay (GINPR): 107 species since 2013 (eBird)
Galiano Island
Bellhouse Park (BC Parks): 105 species since 2007 (eBird)
Gray Point Trail/Montague Harbour Marine Park (BC Parks): 129 species since 1970 (eBird)
Mount Galiano Nature Preserve: 68 species since 2005 (eBird)
Matthews Point Regional Park (CRD): 79 species since 2010 (eBird)
The Viewpoint Trail/The Bluffs (Galiano Club & GIPRC): 102 species seen since 1990 (eBird)
Inner Gulf Islands
Portland Island (GINPR): 134 species since 2002 (eBird)
Russell Island (GINPR): 80 species since 2009 (eBird)
Isle-de-Lis/Rum Island Trail (GINPR): 67 species since 2015 (eBird)
Mandarte Island bird research station (IBA Canada site): 107 species since 1960 (eBird)
CRD - Capital Regional District, GINPR - Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, PIPRC - Pender Islands Parks & Recreation Commission, SSIPARC - Salt Spring Island Parks, Arts, Recreation & Culture, MIPRC - Mayne Island Parks & Recreation Commission, SIPRC - Saturna Island Parks & Recreation Commission, GIPRC - Galiano Island Parks & Recreation Commission.
Counting Birds in the SGI for the National Audubon Society Bird Count
Excerpt from A 2025 Christmas Bird Count Full of Surprises
“The official Audubon count area that contains the Mayne Island count includes Saturna, North Pender, and South Pender islands. The official list submitted for our count area is a compilation of counts from each of these islands. For this year’s count the four islands tallied 91 species and 9,838 individual birds. Collectively we had 118 birders out on count day who logged just over 187 hours (this includes feeder counters) and 229 kilometres on foot, by car, or by boat to observe birds.”
Turkey Vulture Resources (and great pictures, videos, audio)
The Vulture Watcher/One man’s spirited commitment to an underappreciated bird, Hakai Magazine (December 2019). A Larry Pynn story about Pender Island’s Dave Manning (who self-published a fascinating book entitled The Old Man and the Vultures • 40 pages • Available at the Pender Island Conservancy’s Nature Centre at Hope Store / $15.00 and at Talisman Books & Gallery at North Pender Island’s Driftwood Centre / $19.95).
British Columbia Breeding Bird Atlas: Turkey Vulture.
Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birds: Turkey Vulture.
Birds of Southwestern British Columbia (7th printing) by Richard Cannings • Paperback • $19.95 • 432 pages • Harbour Publishing, 2008. Covers more than 200 bird species in a handy, portable guide. Aimed at beginning and intermediate birders.
Merlin • Merlin is a smartphone bird app created by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology; it provides birders with the ability to Identify Bird Songs and Calls, Identify Birds in a Photo, Save Birds to Your Life List, and Explore Lists of Birds Near You using your cell phone. Watch the See How Merlin Can Help You ID Birds demo video below for an introduction to this amazing bird-ID assist tool.
