Turkey Vulture

SCI Name:  Cathartes aura
Protonym:  Vultur Aura Syst.Nat.ed.10 p.86
Taxonomy:  Cathartiformes / Cathartidae / Cathartes
Taxonomy Code:  turvul
Type Locality:  State of Veracruz, Mexico, designated by Nelson, 1905, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 18, p. 124.
Author:  Linnaeus
Publish Year:  1758
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

CATHARTES
(Cathartidae; Ϯ Turkey Vulture C. aura) Gr. καθαρτης kathartēs  cleanser  < καθαριζω katharizō  to cleanse; the Turkey Vulture acts as a very useful scavenger in the Neotropics; "GENUS 67. CATHARTES (καθαρτης purgator) Sarcoramphus Dumer.  (Aasvogel Germ.) Rostrum mediocre crassiusculum, rectum, maxilla basi ceromate, saepius carunculato, tecta, dertro distincto fornicato compressiusculo, adunco. Nares in ceromatis antica parte prope culmen sitae, ovales, longitudinales, perviae, mesorhinio angusto tenui. Lingua canaliculata, margine serrata. Caput et collum superius nuda, aut carunculata, aut rugosa. Collum saepius torque plumarum cinctum. Pedes insidentes, validi, mediocres, nudi; tarsus digito medio fere brevior. Ungues validi, modici, incurvi, acuti. Tarsotheca squamulato-reticulata, acrodactyla scutulata. Pelma torosum, scabrum.  Species: Vultur Papa, Aura Lin." (Illiger 1811); "Cathartes Illiger, 1811, Prodromus Syst. Mammalium Avium, p. 236. Type, by subsequent designation (Vigors, 1825, Zool. Journ., 2, p. 384), Vultur aura Linnaeus." (Amadon in Peters, 1979, 1, ed. 2, p. 275).    
Var. Cathrartes, Catharthes, Cahartes.   
Synon. Catharista, Gallinaza, Oenops, Rhinogryphus.

aura
Mexican native name Aurouá for the Turkey Vulture; "40. VULTUR.  ...  Aura.  4. V. fuscogriseus, remigibus nigris, rostro albo.  Tzopilotle s. Aura. Hernand. mex. 331.  Urubu brasiliensibus. Marcgr. bras. 207. Willugh. orn. 68. Raj. av. 10. 180.  Buteo specie gallo-pavonis. Catesb. car. I. p. 6. t. 6.  Vultur gallinæ africanæ facie. Sloan. jam. 2. p. 294. t. 254.  Vultur pullus, capite implumi, cute crassa rugosa ultra aperturas nasales laxata. Brown. jam. 471.  Habitat in America calidiore.  Privilegio munitus in Jamaica." (Linnaeus 1758). This epithet is the fourth name and third autochthonym (first if Latin and Greek are excluded) in avian nomenclature (Cathartes).

SUBSPECIES

Turkey Vulture (Northern)
SCI Name: Cathartes aura aura/septentrionalis
CATHARTES
(Cathartidae; Ϯ Turkey Vulture C. aura) Gr. καθαρτης kathartēs  cleanser  < καθαριζω katharizō  to cleanse; the Turkey Vulture acts as a very useful scavenger in the Neotropics; "GENUS 67. CATHARTES (καθαρτης purgator) Sarcoramphus Dumer.  (Aasvogel Germ.) Rostrum mediocre crassiusculum, rectum, maxilla basi ceromate, saepius carunculato, tecta, dertro distincto fornicato compressiusculo, adunco. Nares in ceromatis antica parte prope culmen sitae, ovales, longitudinales, perviae, mesorhinio angusto tenui. Lingua canaliculata, margine serrata. Caput et collum superius nuda, aut carunculata, aut rugosa. Collum saepius torque plumarum cinctum. Pedes insidentes, validi, mediocres, nudi; tarsus digito medio fere brevior. Ungues validi, modici, incurvi, acuti. Tarsotheca squamulato-reticulata, acrodactyla scutulata. Pelma torosum, scabrum.  Species: Vultur Papa, Aura Lin." (Illiger 1811); "Cathartes Illiger, 1811, Prodromus Syst. Mammalium Avium, p. 236. Type, by subsequent designation (Vigors, 1825, Zool. Journ., 2, p. 384), Vultur aura Linnaeus." (Amadon in Peters, 1979, 1, ed. 2, p. 275).    
Var. Cathrartes, Catharthes, Cahartes.   
Synon. Catharista, Gallinaza, Oenops, Rhinogryphus.

Turkey Vulture (Tropical)
SCI Name: Cathartes aura ruficollis
ruficollis
Mod. L. ruficollis  red-necked, rufous-necked  < L. rufus  red, ruddy, rufous; Mod. L. -collis  -necked, -throated  < L. collum  neck.
● ex “Black-bellied Gallinule” of Latham 1785 (syn. Aramides cajanea).
● ex “Rufous-throated Tanager” of Latham 1783 (syn. Euneornis campestris).
● ex “Pica flores pecho de cañela” and “Pica flores pecho de topacio” of de Azara 1802-1805, nos. 290, 291 (syn. Hylocharis chrysura).
● ex "Cola aguda cola de canela obscura" of de Azara, no. 240 (syn. Phacellodomus sibilatrix).
● ex “Red-necked Grebe” of Latham 1785 (syn. Podiceps grisegena).
● ex “Rufous-throated Tanager” of Latham 1785 (subsp. Pyrrhulagra violacea).
● ex “Fringilla ruficollis” of Lichtenstein MS (syn. Sporophila ruficollis).

Turkey Vulture (South Temperate)
SCI Name: Cathartes aura jota
jota
Local Chilean name Jote for the Black Vulture (subsp. Cathartes aura).