Turkey Vulture

A common and recognizable sight across North America, the Turkey Vulture is the dingy janitor of the bird world. Although nearly eagle-size, their body is a non-descript black built only to glide, with no real muscular capacity to exert much force or move incisively. However, the overlapping thick flesh on their heads does provide a protection against the bacteria they encounter while feeding on over-ripe carrion, which does give vultures a certain (ugliness) specialness of their own.