Laura Erickson's For the Birds

This vulture, extremely common in Florida and expanding its range northward (we’ve even had a record at Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory in Duluth, Minnesota) sometimes gathers in kettles with Turkey Vultures. The two are easy to distinguish in flight from most angles if you have any good light at all. The pale on this vulture’s wings is limited to the outer tips; it extends through all the flight feathers on the Turkey Vulture. And the Black Vulture’s tail is much shorter, the head a bit larger. Young Turkey Vultures don’t assume the red head until they’re almost a year old, so except in spring and early summer, don’t use head color.

Black Vultures don’t have as well-developed a sense of smell, so find most of their carrion via sight, in open areas.