Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Vultures are a result of convergent evolution: both Old World vultures and New World vultures eat carrion, but Old World vultures are in the eagle and hawk family (Accipitridae) and use mainly eyesight for discovering food; the New World vultures are of obscure ancestry, and some use the sense of smell as well as sight in hunting. Birds of both ...
The similarities between the two groups of vultures are due to convergent evolution, rather than a close relationship. They were widespread in both the Old World and North America during the Neogene. Old World vultures are probably a polyphyletic group within Accipitridae, belonging to two separate not closely related groups within the family. [2]
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion.There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). [2] Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and South America and consist of seven identified species, all belonging to the Cathartidae family.
The black vulture locates food either by sight or by following New World vultures of the genus Cathartes to carcasses. [54] These vultures—the turkey vulture, the lesser yellow-headed vulture, and the greater yellow-headed vulture—forage by detecting the scent of ethyl mercaptan, a gas produced by the beginnings of decay in dead animals. [55]
The griffon vulture is 93–122 cm (37–48 in) long with a 2.3–2.8 m (7 ft 7 in – 9 ft 2 in) wingspan. In the nominate race the males weigh 6.2 to 10.5 kg (14 to 23 lb) and females typically weigh 6.5 to 10.5 kg (14 to 23 lb), while in the Indian subspecies (G. f. fulvescens), the vultures average 7.1 kg (16 lb).
Lappet-faced vultures are also sometimes victims of direct persecution, including shooting and the use of strychnine and other poisons. In Namibia, 86 vultures died after eating poisoned cattle carcasses, because the farmers erroneously believed they were killing and eating the cattle. In some cases the poisoning is done by poachers, who fear ...
The Gypaetinae is one of two subfamilies of Old World vultures the other being the Aegypiinae.Some taxonomic authorities place the Gypaetinae within the Perninae hawks. They are presently found throughout much of Africa, Asia, and southern Europe, hence being considered "Old World" vultures, but as recently as the Late Pleistocene, they were also present in North America.
The cinereous vulture is a largely solitary bird, being found alone or in pairs much more frequently than most other Old World vultures. At large carcasses or feeding sites, small groups may congregate. Such groups can rarely include up to 12 to 20 vultures, with some older reports of up to 30 or 40. [8] [9]