Tracey Tetreau shares this captivating image of a pair of turkey vultures she spotted near the Waneta Dam last week. Photo: Tracey Tetreau

Kootenay view of ‘Cathartes aura’

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Tracey Tetreau shares this captivating image of a pair of turkey vultures she spotted near the Waneta Dam last week.

“I came across a wake (perched group) of turkey vultures,”she explains. “They are so fascinating to watch.”

The turkey vulture (species Cathartes aura) is a scavenger and feeds almost exclusively on carrion.

It finds food using keen eyes and a sense of smell, flying low enough to detect gases produced by the putrefaction of dead animals.

In flight, it uses thermals to move through the air, flapping its wings infrequently.

Lacking a syrinx — the vocal organ of birds — its only vocalizations are grunts or low hisses.

Read more: Turkey vultures in the Koots

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