buzzard
What country folks call a turkey vulture circling the roadkill.
Also called turkey buzzard.
Updated September 21, 2026
buzzard pronunciation
/BUZ-erd/
Meaning
In rural Southern and Appalachian talk, buzzard is the everyday name for a vulture, mostly the red-headed turkey vulture you see riding thermals over fields and two-lanes. Bird books prefer vulture. Porch talk does not. Folks also call a cranky old man an old buzzard, same scavenger joke aimed at a person.
How folks use it
- “There's buzzards over the back pasture. Something must have died in the fence row.”
- “Don't mind that old buzzard. He's been sour since the tractor sale.”
Origin and etymology
In Britain, buzzard meant a soaring hawk (a buteo). Early settlers in North America shifted the name onto vultures, and that stuck hard in the South. By the 1800s, turkey buzzard was common in American writing for Cathartes aura. The insult sense grew from the bird's scavenger reputation.
Frequently asked questions
Is a buzzard the same as a vulture?
In Southern country talk, yes for the big black birds circling dead deer. Strict bird names call those turkey vultures or black vultures. In Europe, buzzard still means a hawk.