I live on a knob in rural KY. The turkey buzzards are constantly riding the heat or updraft. They rarely flap their wings.
When our family does a road trip to your part of the country, we always appreciate seeing the turkey vultures. They’re soar so gracefully.
I remember hiking once up in the mountains of New Hampshire. As is often the case, several hawks were riding updrafts along a ridge. Then I spotted a big raven that I swear was trying to ride the currents. It’s like that raven had aspirations of soaring with the big boys.
Ditto that!
I was going to mention turkey vultures (that’s what we call them in California), too. As you say, you rarely see them flap their wings.