Icicle Canyon Fauna Question

[Greg_W]

Whilst hanging out on Careno Crag on Saturday, we saw some big-ass birds soaring overhead. At first I thought they were hawks, but then I wasn't too sure. I know there are tons of kinds of hawks, but this bird was slightly different. It was definitely a bird of prey with a mainly brown body and wings with white splotches. The head was small and reddish. Could this be some sort of condor? I figured Condor Buttress got its name from something, but what the hell do I know (that's rhetorical assholes).

 

Anyway, curiosity is killing this cat. Can anyone help?

 

Greg W

[Jim]

Likely a turkey vulture. Their heads are small and feather-less (red) sos not to get matted feathers while sticking their head in a carcass. Pretty common bird, 5-6 ft wingspan, soars with wings in a V-shape, as opposed to eagles (golden or bald) that have a flat wing profile.

[Dru]

theres a buzzard (vulture) every 2 miles from here to j tree right now. big spring migration up the flyway.

[mattp]

There were four or five of them eating a dead deer on the roadside over near the Squirrel Tree Sunday p.m. Maybe they were hoping for some dead climber over in the Icicle.

[lummox]

condors are fucking big. unless your thinking 'holy shit that a big fucking bird!' it aint a condor. i only seen em around the vermillion cliffs in arizona (near lees ferry).

[Dru]

there are only 56 condors left in the wild and ~150 in captivity so chances of seeing a condor outside of certain specific protected sites are basically non existant.

 

now the quetzalsaurus....

[Szyjakowski]

lummox said:

condors are fucking big. unless your thinking 'holy shit that a big fucking bird!' it aint a condor. i only seen em around the vermillion cliffs in arizona (near lees ferry).

Saw that big fuking bird there too.... yet, big is sorta an understatement