Home > Illustration > Wildlife > Birds > Birds of Prey > Turkey Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Turkey Vulture line art illustration (click image to enlarge)

Turkey Vulture full color illustration (click image to enlarge)

Artist's notes:

The Turkey Vulture was originally drawn in 2005 for Laura Erickson's book 101 Ways to Help Birds. The color tinting was added in 2009. Sure, they're fairly ungainly and ugly birds in many regards. But even with the strange, bald red head the Turkey Vulture has a certain beauty to it with the brown and dark blue body feathers.

Information about the Turkey Vulture:

The Turkey Vulture is a large scavenger bird common throughout most of the Americas. It is the most widespread of the New World vultures. It is a large bird with a wingspan of 68–72 inches and an average weight of just over three pounds. They can be recognized in flight by the distinctive shallow "v" shape their wings make when soaring. While they are considered birds of prey, they rarely if ever kill prey themselves. Like other vultures, the Turkey Vulture plays a very important role in the ecosystem by disposing of carrion which otherwise might be a breeding ground for disease.