This is an adult showing reddish head skin and small ivory colored bill. This species takes up to three years to get full adult coloration. Their digestive system is said to kill pathogenic germs making them a natural disinfectant as they scavenge. They have an unusually large olfactory lobe in their brain and are known to detect much of their food by smell. American vultures are not closely related to Old World vultures. Their similarity is an example of evolutionary convergence. Canon Powershot SX60 HS.
References:
Global Raptor Information Network. 2020. Species account: Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura. Downloaded from http://www.globalraptors.org on 24 Feb. 2020.
Houston, D., Kirwan, G.M., Christie, D.A. & Marks, J.S. (2020). Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/52940 on 24 February 2020).
Kirk, D. A. and M. J. Mossman (1998). Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura), version 2.0. In The Birds of North America (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bna.339