Turkey Vulture vs Bald Eagle
The check that settles it
Soars on flat wings with a white head and tail on adults, and a much heavier body.
Turkey Vulture
Cathartes aura
- Size
- 62–81 cm
- Bill
- hooked
- Where
- open field, woodland, coast
- Voice
- Nearly silent. Hisses and grunts at close range.
Bald Eagle
Haliaeetus leucocephalus
- Size
- 70–102 cm
- Bill
- hooked
- Where
- water, coast, open field
- Voice
- A weak, high, stuttering chatter — nothing like the scream used for it in films, which is a red-tailed hawk.
Confirming a turkey vulture
- Wings held in a shallow V — a dihedral — rather than flat.
- Rocks and tilts constantly instead of soaring steadily.
- Two-toned underwing: dark leading edge, pale silvery trailing edge.
- Small bare red head that looks disproportionately tiny.
Confirming a bald eagle
- Adult: clean white head and tail against a dark brown body, with a massive yellow bill.
- Soars on flat wings, held like a plank.
- Immature: blotchy brown and white, dark bill, and white showing in the wing linings.
- Almost always near water.