Information and observations about the sole species of New World vultures (Family Cathartidae, Order Falconiformes, Class Aves, Phylum Chordata, Kingdom Animalia)
that lives on Mount Desert Island

 scavenged by the
Champlain Project - P. O. Box 400 - Southwest Harbor, ME 04679
info@vfthomas.com - 207-266-5748

(updated 9 April 2010)


Cathartidae - New World vultures

Mount Desert Island is home to 1 species in 1 genus. Click on a link below or scroll down for more information.
   Cathartidae (1 genus, 1 species)
      Cathartes aura - turkey vulture





Cathartidae
Of this family's five North American species that are reported by The American Ornithological Union, the best known is very likely Gymnogyps californianus, the California condor.

Cathartes aura (turkey vulture) is most often seen soaring overhead with the tips of its wings well above the level of the body. Its flight is reminiscent of someone with less than perfect balance trying to walk on a narrow log. Turkey vultures return to Mount Desert Island in late March as the following earliest sightings show. The 2010 observation was unusually early, but 2010 had a very warm spring and many other natural history phenomena were early.
   2008
      March 25 - over Bar Harbor [JEW]
   2009
      March 22 - over Route 233, Bar Harbor [EMW, KW]
   2010
      March 2 - over Route 233, Bar Harbor [JEW]

It is relatively uncommon to see this bird up close, but Stanley Grierson and Ruth Grierson did, and Stanley took the photograph below, beside Route 102 south of the village of Somesville, on 6 April 2009.




Sources:
   Champlainers:
      EMW = Emma Walsh
      KW = Ken Walsh
      JEW = Jill E. Weber