Toronto Area Turkey Vultures

by Ian Harvey, Yolande, Catherine, Liss, Maurice, Rimrym
(From ... Toronto, Brampton, Richmond Hill, Oakville)

Turkey Vulture flying

Ian Harvey from south Scarborough wrote about his Toronto sighting ... there's a nesting pair of Turkey Vultures who hang around the corner of a 55 acre brownfield at Victoria Park and Gerrard in Toronto. The Quarry - as its called - is mostly high grass and bush with lots of wildlife like raccoons, squirrels, groundhogs, mice, rabbits etc. They like to hang in the air over the north west corner of the Quarry closer to Warden Ave and by the train tracks where Oakridges Park is on the other side. There's also a pair of Red Tail Hawks there, but they are never there when the Turkey Vultures are there. They are about a six foot wing span. The Hawks are pretty big too.

One of our readers said ... I'm from downtown Toronto, and its the first time I've been in near this area near Hamilton, so I don't know how to properly describe the location. 2 Days ago driving along a small highway (near Dundas, Ontario) about 7:00 pm, I was shocked to see a very large vulture on the side of the road (I think it was eating some carion?), very relaxed and casually moving his head, looking around, maybe only 20 feet from the nearest car - it did not seem to be at all perturbed by the cars (though the road was not too busy). At first I thought someone was playing a joke on drivers with some mechanical toy etc, since I never dreamed that vultures lived in Ontario. But from this site, I now see that they do. Quite spooky actually.

A reader from Toronto said ... on our morning walk on Sunday, June 9 at around 11:00 in Taylor Creek Park, part of the ravine park system of Toronto. Two turkey vultures were spotted swooping around the sky and landing in trees. One was very close to the walking path so we could observe it and point it out to other people who came along the path. At times the birds were being chased by red wing blackbirds. The area of Taylor Creek Park where they were is a combination of marsh and forest and it is a busy place most days - people walking, cycling and running.

One of our readers from Brampton said ... we were driving north past the intersection of Bramalea Road and Bovaird Drive in Brampton, when we saw two Turkey Vultures feeding at the side of the road on a small dead animal that I assume was hit by a car. As the one bird was feeding, the other was standing on the grass, off the road, spreading its wings. I didn't even know what they were, just HUGE birds, black, with bald red heads. I guessed from the bald head that it was some kind of vulture, googled it, and it brought me to this site. Amazing and the first time I have ever seen a vulture other than on T.V.

Yolande wrote to say ... I live in the Toronto Humewood-Cedarvale area and I saw a group of 6 or so Vultures soaring over the construction site at Allen Road at about 5 pm. They were circling and gliding on thermals and then headed south. Was such a cool sight to see. I would have grabbed my phone to snap a pic but I was so enthralled I couldn’t look away. This was in October.

Catherine wrote to us to report ... last fall, at 4:40 pm Eastern Standard, on October 17, my husband and I saw a flock of at least 50 Turkey Vultures hovering / soaring over Cabbagetown near the intersection of Parliament and Carlton Streets in Toronto, Ontario. We are quite near the Don Valley and the birds circled about in a range that covered several blocks of our immediate neighbourhood and east over the valley.

Liss from Richmond Hill said ... it was in July at 7:15 am, I was waiting for my ride to work and looked upwards and to my surprise I saw this large blackish bird soaring above me. I saw it quite closely as it soared in the thermals above, it was spectacular! The red head, I knew it was a Turkey Vulture, it was a sheer delight to witness such a magnificent bird of prey.

Maurice Lance wrote to report ... at 4:30 pm on Sunday 9th June 19, I observed a Turkey Vulture around the Catholic church at Nottinghill Gate, Oakville, eating something on the church grounds. First time I have ever seen such a large bird as this in our area. Looked very bedraggled for such a large bird. Never realised that these birds were native to this part of Canada.

Rimrym wrote to say ... I just spotted 6 to 8 gliding in south east Oakville. 2:30 pm April 26. First time since I have lived here for 8 years. Pretty cool.

Thanks, everyone, for writing to tell us of your Vulture sightings. As you can see, we have had many submissions to our website that I have had to combine them!

Soon, I will post this on our Facebook page so that all our Facebook followers can read it.

You will also find it on our Website Blog.