Scavenging Efficiency of Turkey Vultures in Tropical Forest

A series of baits was used to study the scavenging efficiency of Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) in tropical forest. These birds were found to rely almost entirely on their sense of smell to locate food. They could not easily find animals that had died recently, were efficient at locating one-day-old carcasses, and tended to reject meat that was rotten. Estimates of the amount of food taken from the baits showed that Turkey and Black vultures removed about 90% of the provided food supply.