LC
Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura



Taxonomy

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
SACC. 2005 and updates. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Critically Endangered Endangered Vulnerable
- - -

Red List history
Year Category Criteria
2018 Least Concern
2016 Least Concern
2012 Least Concern
2009 Least Concern
2008 Least Concern
2004 Least Concern
2000 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988 Lower Risk/Least Concern
Species attributes

Migratory status full migrant Forest dependency low
Land-mass type Average mass -
Range

Estimate Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident) 47,100,000 km2 medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding) 40,200,000 km2 medium
Severely fragmented? no -
Population
Estimate Data quality Derivation Year of estimate
Population size unknown poor estimated 2009
Population trend stable - estimated -
Generation length 9.9 years - - -

Trend justification: The overall trend is likely to be stable. This species has undergone a large and statistically significant increase over the last 40 years in North America (161% increase over 40 years, equating to a 27.1% increase per decade; data from Breeding Bird Survey and/or Christmas Bird Count: Butcher and Niven 2007). Note, however, that these surveys cover less than 50% of the species's range in North America.


Country/territory distribution
Country/Territory Presence Origin Resident Breeding visitor Non-breeding visitor Passage migrant
Argentina extant native
Aruba (to Netherlands) extant native yes
Bahamas extant native
Belize extant native
Bermuda (to UK) extant vagrant
Bolivia extant native
Brazil extant native
Canada extant native yes yes
Cayman Islands (to UK) extant native
Chile extant native
Colombia extant native
Costa Rica extant native yes
Cuba extant native
Dominican Republic extant native
Ecuador extant native
El Salvador extant native
Falkland Islands (Malvinas) extant native
French Guiana extant native
Guatemala extant native
Guyana extant native
Haiti extant native
Honduras extant native
Jamaica extant native yes
Mexico extant native
Nicaragua extant native
Panama extant native
Paraguay extant native
Peru extant native
Puerto Rico (to USA) extant native
South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands extant native
Suriname extant native
Trinidad and Tobago extant native
Turks and Caicos Islands (to UK) extant native
Uruguay extant native yes
USA extant native yes
Venezuela extant native
Virgin Islands (to USA) extant vagrant

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Country/Territory IBA Name
Mexico Centro de Veracruz
Mexico Istmo de Tehuantepec - Mar Muerto

Habitats & altitude
Habitat (level 1) Habitat (level 2) Importance Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial Pastureland suitable non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial Pastureland suitable breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial Subtropical/Tropical Heavily Degraded Former Forest suitable non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial Subtropical/Tropical Heavily Degraded Former Forest suitable breeding
Desert Hot suitable non-breeding
Desert Hot suitable breeding
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Dry suitable non-breeding
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Dry suitable breeding
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland suitable non-breeding
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland suitable breeding
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane suitable non-breeding
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane suitable breeding
Forest Temperate suitable non-breeding
Forest Temperate suitable breeding
Grassland Subtropical/Tropical Seasonally Wet/Flooded suitable non-breeding
Grassland Subtropical/Tropical Seasonally Wet/Flooded suitable breeding
Shrubland Subtropical/Tropical Dry suitable non-breeding
Shrubland Subtropical/Tropical Dry suitable breeding
Altitude 0 - 4300 m Occasional altitudinal limits  

Utilisation
Purpose Scale
Food - human subsistence, national
Pets/display animals, horticulture international

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/turkey-vulture-cathartes-aura on 24/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 24/12/2024.