Quick Answer
Turkey vultures are generally quiet birds that do not vocalize much. They rarely make noises at night, with a few exceptions:
- Young turkey vulture chicks in the nest may make begging calls to their parents at night when hungry.
- Adults may make grunts, hisses or bill snaps when disturbed at the roost at night.
- Turkey vultures sometimes vocalize at night when interacting with their mates at the roost.
Overall though, turkey vultures are mostly silent at night. Their vocalizations are typically limited to grunts, hisses and bill snapping when threatened or alarmed. Turkey vultures do not sing, call or communicate much vocally.
Turkey Vulture Background
The turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) is a large bird of prey that is found throughout much of the Americas. It is one of the most widespread raptors in the Western Hemisphere. Turkey vultures are scavengers that feed predominantly on carrion. They play an important role in the ecosystem by disposing of carcasses and preventing the spread of diseases.
Some key facts about turkey vultures:
- Scientific name: Cathartes aura
- Average wingspan: 5-6 feet
- Average length: 25-32 inches
- Average weight: 4-5 pounds
- Lifespan: up to 16 years in the wild
- Diet: Carrion – they do not kill live prey
- Habitat: Open areas, grasslands, deserts, forests
- Range: Throughout the Americas from Canada to Chile
Turkey vultures have dark plumage, bald red heads, and a keen sense of smell to locate carcasses. They soar for hours while foraging, rarely flapping their wings. At night, they roost communally in trees, on cliffs, or on human-made structures.
Are Turkey Vultures Noisy?
Overall, turkey vultures are generally very quiet and non-vocal birds. Here are some details on their vocalizations:
- They lack a syrinx, the vocal organ of birds, and cannot sing or make melodious calls like songbirds.
- Adults may make grunts, hisses, or bill snaps when alarmed or threatened.
- Chicks and fledglings beg for food from parents with whistling or wheezing calls.
- Occasionally adults may make croaking, grunting or low hissing sounds at the roost or nest.
- They do not make loud calls to communicate while soaring or foraging.
So while turkey vultures have a repertoire of bill snaps, hisses, croaks and grunts, they are generally very quiet and non-vocal for most of the time. They lack the typical vocal abilities of songbirds and raptors due to their limited syrinx.
Turkey Vulture Noises at Night
Turkey vultures are mostly silent at night when roosting. However, there are a few exceptions when they may vocalize after dark:
- Young chicks – Turkey vulture chicks make loud, wheezing food begging calls from the nest at night when hungry. These sounds can carry for some distance.
- Alarm calls – Adult vultures may make hisses, grunts or bill snapping sounds when alarmed or disturbed at night. For example, if a predator approaches the roost.
- Mate interactions – Adult turkey vultures may make some croaking or grunting noises when interacting with their mate at night at the communal roost.
Besides these limited vocalizations, turkey vultures are typically quiet at night. They spend the nighttime hours resting and sleeping while roosting in trees or on structures.
Roosting Habits
Turkey vultures roost communally at night. Here are some key facts about their nighttime roosting habits:
- Roost sites – Turkey vultures gather in groups when roosting in dead trees, live trees, cliffs, rock ledges, or on man-made structures like cell towers.
- Communal roosts – Groups can range from just a few birds to over a thousand vultures at a large roost.
- Roost fidelity – Turkey vultures often use the same roost sites year after year.
- Predator protection – Roosting communally may help deter potential predators.
- Warmth – Huddling together at night may help retain body heat.
- Resting – At the roost, turkey vultures spend the night resting, preening, sleeping, and digesting food.
The roost is a key part of the daily rhythm of turkey vulture behavior. During the day they disperse widely to forage, then converge at dusk on their communal roost sites. Besides the occasional vocalizations mentioned earlier, they are generally quiet and inactive at night.
What Sounds Do Turkey Vultures Make?
Although generally quiet, turkey vultures do make some noises with their bills, throat and wings:
- Hissing – Turkey vultures may make loud hissing sounds when threatened, during courtship, or at the nest. Air is expelled forcefully through the trachea creating the hiss.
- Grunting – These are low-pitched grunting sounds made in territorial or breeding contexts or when disturbed.
- Bill snapping – This is a defensive sound made by clattering the bill. It signals alarm or aggression.
- Begging calls – High-pitched whistles or wheezing sounds made by young vultures begging for food.
- Croaking -Deep guttural croaking sounds are occasionally made at the nest or roost.
- Wing whistles – Air forced quickly through wing feathers makes a high-pitched whistle.
In general though, turkey vultures are not noisy, vocal birds compared to many other raptor species. Even their defensive bill snapping and hissing are fairly quiet and unlikely to be heard from far away. The noisy begging calls of their young are an exception, however.
Do Turkey Vultures Communicate Vocally?
Turkey vultures do not use vocalizations to communicate extensively or over long distances. Here are some details:
- Limited vocal abilities – Due to their small syrinx, turkey vultures cannot produce complex vocalizations.
- Non-vocal communication – Instead they rely on soaring, body language and group coordination while foraging.
- Short-range sounds – Any noises made by adults are low-pitched and only heard over short distances.
- Begging calls – Young birds vocalize loudly to encourage feeding by parents.
- Alarm calls – Adults may hiss or snap bills when alarmed to signal danger to others.
- Courtship – Vocalizations like croaking may play a role in courtship at close range between mates.
So while turkey vultures are not entirely mute, they are far less vocal than most other bird species. They do not seem to rely much on vocal communication for interacting with each other while foraging or socializing. Their hisses and croaks likely only function over short distances.
Why Are Turkey Vultures So Quiet?
There are a few theories as to why turkey vultures are so quiet compared to many other bird species:
- Limited syrinx – Their small vocal organ physically limits the sounds they can produce.
- Scavenging lifestyle – They do not need complex vocalizations for activities like attracting mates or defending territories.
- Smell-based foraging – They use keen eyesight and sense of smell, not vocal cues, to find carcasses.
- Communal roosting – They may not require vocal communication to coordinate at roosts.
- Group soaring – Non-vocal group dynamics may facilitate coordinated soaring over areas.
- Short-range communication – The rare noises made likely only function over shorter distances.
Turkey vultures simply may not rely on or benefit from extensive vocalizations due to their specialized scavenging lifestyle and social dynamics. Their limited vocal apparatus further reinforces their quiet nature.
Turkey Vulture Mating and Nesting
During the breeding season, turkey vultures may vocalize a bit more than normal:
- Courtship – Croaking and hissing may play a role in courtship between mates at the roost site.
- Copulation – Hissing and grunting sounds may occur during mating.
- Nest Sites – Turkey vultures nest on cliff edges, in caves, hollow trees, and abandoned buildings.
- Eggs – Females lay 1 to 3 eggs, which are incubated by both parents for around 40 days.
- Chicks – After hatching, the young make loud begging calls to encourage feeding by parents.
- Fledging – Chicks take their first flights at around 10-15 weeks old and remain dependent on parents for a period after fledging.
The noisy begging calls of turkey vulture chicks are perhaps the peak of sound production for this generally quiet species. Some hissing or croaking may occur between mates, but these birds rely little on vocalizations even during breeding.
Reactions to Disturbances
When turkey vultures are startled, disturbed or threatened, they may make alarm calls:
- At the nest, adults may hiss loudly or strike with their wings to deter potential predators.
- At roosts, disturbance may elicit bill snapping, hissing or grunting noises.
- Being directly approached may provoke bill snapping and loud hissing as defensive reactions.
- In response to gunshots or loud, unfamiliar noises they often vomit foul-smelling stomach contents.
- They do not vocalize while mobbing or aggressively dive-bombing perceived threats near the nest.
So turkey vultures certainly make sounds when alarmed or defending themselves, but these are generally short-range reactions. They may also regurgitate as a defensive response. But overall, they tend to be wary and fly away from disturbances rather than vocalizing extensively.
Comparison to Other Vulture Species
Compared to other types of vultures, turkey vultures are remarkably silent:
Vulture Species | Vocal Behavior |
---|---|
Turkey Vulture | Very quiet, limited vocal abilities. Rarely vocalize except for some hisses, grunts or croaks when disturbed, breeding or defending nest. |
Black Vulture | More vocal than turkey vultures with a repertoire of raspy croaks, grunts and wheezing sounds. Make excited vocalizations at carcass sites. |
King Vulture | Loud, grumbling croak that carries long distances. Also barks, hisses and makes other sounds. |
Andean Condor | Makes a variety of barking, grunting and croaking vocalizations. Young condors beg loudly with a whistling call. |
So among the world’s vultures, the turkey vulture stands out as being remarkably quiet and non-vocal in most situations. Even other New World vultures like the black vulture are much more vocal. This highlights the turkey vulture’s limited vocal capabilities and lack of reliance on sound for communication.
Conclusion
In summary, turkey vultures are predominantly silent birds. Unlike most other raptors and vultures, they do not vocalize extensively. The rare noises they make are typically low-pitched hisses, grunts or bill snaps in response to threats, breeding interactions or defending nests. Turkey vulture chicks beg loudly for food from their parents. But adult turkey vultures are remarkably quiet and non-vocal for much of the time. They do not seem to rely much on vocal communication while foraging, roosting or socializing. So while turkey vultures may utter some sounds when disturbed at night, their roosts are generally very quiet places after dark when these birds are resting and sleeping. Their limited vocalizations reflect their scavenging lifestyle and wide-ranging yet mostly silent flight during the day.