From a distance, the large bird perched on a broken-off tree looked majestic and I assumed that it was a hawk or an eagle. Zooming in with my telephoto lens, I realized that it was “only” a Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura). It got me thinking about the fact that vultures have a bad reputation—many people are creeped out by the way that vultures circle overhead and eat dead things. For them, the words “majestic” and “vulture” just don’t go together. If you suspend all preconceived notions and examine the bird in this photo (or watch a vulture effortlessly soaring overhead), perhaps you too will find a bit of majesty there.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Marvelous bird and a smashing photo.
Thanks. These vultures seem to spend most of their time in the air, so it was nice for a change to capture and image of one perched.
I love to watch Vultures fly, turning and soaring with seemingly little effort. Nice photo!
Thanks, Ellen. I too am fascinated by the sight of soaring vultures. They seem to spend endless periods of time in the air in a relentless pursuit of the scent of something to eat.
It’s a good thing there are cultures and other scavengers. If they didn’t eat carcasses, we would be drowning in dead things.
Anyway, I’m a vegetarian, but most people eat dead animals, don’t they? Sometimes they cook them first, sometimes not (steak tartare, ceviche, sashimi, extremely rare meat). What makes us better than vultures?
Nice photo.
Indeed vultures play an important role. It’s a bit strange that we admire more birds like eagles that eat their prey when it is alive than we do vultures that eat already dead prey.
That is a very sound observation.
Sorry, vultures, not cultures!
In ancient Egypt, the Goddess of Beauty was a vulture — because they clean up the ugliness and leave only beauty behind
Wow! That is a really cool piece of historic information, which elevates the vulture to an unexpected place. Thanks for sharing.
My pleasure!