Turkey Vultures

When you have car trouble on a remote roadside, the sight of a circling turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) can make for a lonely feeling, so it might be surprising to learn that these scavenging birds are social creatures, forming roosts that number in the dozens and migrating in flocks of thousands. When they’re fending for themselves, they owe their survival to their keen sense of smell, which helps them locate carrion even in a heavily forested area, and their extremely potent stomach acid, which allows them to digest almost any dead animal without getting sick. Look for turkey vultures in open woodlands, where they take advantage of updrafts to soar high into the sky. In much of Arizona, they can be spotted year-round; this quartet was photographed northeast of the Phoenix area,
on a spring morning along the Salt River.