The turkey vulture’s diet consists almost entirely of carrion, which is decaying animal matter, like roadkill and human garbage. They will rarely eat prey (such as sick or dying birds and rodents) and plants.?How are they classified?

Question

The turkey vulture’s diet consists almost entirely of carrion, which is decaying animal matter, like roadkill and human garbage. They will rarely eat prey (such as sick or dying birds and rodents) and plants.?How are they classified?

Answer 1

Turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) are classified in the animal kingdom as follows:

- **Kingdom**: Animalia
- **Phylum**: Chordata
- **Class**: Aves (birds)
- **Order**: Accipitriformes
- **Family**: Cathartidae (New World vultures)
- **Genus**: Cathartes
- **Species**: C. aura

Turkey vultures are scavengers and are adapted specifically to a diet of carrion, as their sense of smell is highly developed, which helps them locate decaying animal matter from great distances. They play a crucial role in the ecosystem by cleaning up dead carcasses, which helps prevent the spread of disease. Although the bulk of their diet is dead animals, they rarely feed on plants or take live prey, and situations where they do so are typically out of ordinary behavior for these birds.