Turkey Vultures & Condors

The Turkey Vulture is a large soaring bird that feeds on carrion. It's recognized by the featherless red head, white bill, large brown-black body and yellow feet. I spotted these along Vineyard Dr just west of Templeton, California, in early March 2013.

Turkey Vultures fence sitting, west of Templeton, California. 

Turkey Vultures wing span averages 6 ft,  making them excellent flyers.

Turkey Vultures and Condors are "birds of a feather," with the Condor simply being a very large vulture. Its wing span averages about 9 ft.

Imagining what early Native Americans, e.g., the Chumash, must have thought seeing this giant bird soaring overhead, I wrote:

We watched this giant bird

soar so far above us

Surely its wings

would shade us from the sun

and beating the air

would cause the birch to sway and bend

the leaves to flow along the dry river bed

and soaring into the heavens

would bring us rain

So great a creature

we made it a god