A VULTURE spotted on the rooftops in South Devon is thought to have made an epic three-week, 405-mile journey from Northamptonshire to Paignton via Colchester and Somerset.
The bird was spotted by Duchy Drive residents on Friday night when it appeared perched on top of one of the roofs.
Marilyn Jordan, 39, from Duchy Drive, said her 10-year-old son Matthew came running into their home saying there was a 'massive' bird on the roof.
She grabbed her camera and started taking photos of the black-feathered turkey vulture.
"We weren't sure about the nature of the bird and I was more concerned about young children and my cat who hadn't been in all afternoon and we just didn't know what the bird's habits were," said Marilyn, who works in the A&E department at Torbay Hospital.
"We weren't sure if he had eaten, or if it would swoop. The seagulls were going absolutely crazy. When it took flight, the seagulls started dive-bombing and attacking. The gulls had no idea what it was."
Neighbour Kelly Rodwell, 31, also saw the bird. She said she was a 'little frightened' because she also has a cat and was 'worried' for the pets in the area, especially it was hungry.
"It was exciting for the kids — on the first day of their holidays they had a vulture on their roof."
It is thought the bird of prey is nine-year-old Jackson who went missing from his roost at Icarus Falconry, at Holdenby House, Northamptonshire, on July 4.
Initially there were no sightings of the bird until was seen at an abattoir near Colchester Zoo. He stayed there for five days before moving on last Monday.
His owner for the last two years, Tracey Murray, 46, from Guilsborough, Northampstonshire, said Jackson was then spotted in Somerset before the sighting in South Devon.
She said he had never flown before she owned him.
"He has a seven-foot wing span and he doesn't know how to work it properly," she said.
"He is pretty good until he gets in a situation which is outside his sphere of knowledge. It is a bit like giving a Ferrari to a 17-year-old boy. They know how to drive, but they don't know how to use it. He got carried away by a gust of wind because he doesn't let the wind out of his wings."
Yesterday afternoon Tracey was packing a bird box into her car and was travelling down to South Devon to find her missing bird who was thought to be in East Prawle.
The turkey vulture has a wingspan of 170-183cm, dark brown to black plumage; a featherless, purplish-red head and neck; and a short, hooked, ivory-coloured beak and can live for up to 20 years in captivity.
The turkey vulture is a scavenger and feeds almost exclusively on carrion.
It finds its meals using its keen vision and sense of smell, flying low enough to detect the gases produced by the beginnings of the process of decay in dead animals.
Jackson also went missing in August last year but was found three days later in Groombridge Place, Kent, when he landed on an aviary in an animal sanctuary.
