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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.
Vultures are misunderstood birds that have gotten an unfair reputation. What It Means When You See A Vulture: 4 Things You Probably Didn't Know Skip to main content
Like all New World vultures, the black vulture often defecates on its legs, using the evaporation of the water in the feces and/or urine to cool itself, a process known as urohidrosis. [37] It cools the blood vessels in the unfeathered tarsi and feet, and causes white uric acid to streak the legs.
While the noisy Gyps vultures squawk and fly around, the often silent cinereous vultures will keep them well at bay until they are satisfied and have had their own fill. [15] A series of photos taken recently show a cinereous vulture attacking a Himalayan griffon in flight for unknown reasons, although the griffon was not seriously injured. [27]
In flight over Cuba. The turkey vulture received its common name from the resemblance of the adult's bald red head and dark plumage to that of the male wild turkey, while the name "vulture" is derived from the Latin word vulturus, meaning "tearer", and is a reference to its feeding habits. [9]
The juvenile vulture has a dark bill and eyes, and a downy, gray neck that soon begins to turn the orange of an adult. Younger vultures are a slate gray overall, and, while they look similar to the adult by the third year, they do not completely molt into adult plumage until they are around five or six years of age. [28]
Lappet-faced vultures are generally solitary birds. They do not nest in cohesive colonies as do many smaller vultures, with one tree or area usually only having one to two nests in it, though rarely up to 10 nests have been recorded in one area. The home range of a lappet-faced vulture is usually at least 8 to 15 km (5.0 to 9.3 mi). [1]
Winter solstice, the shortest day of the year and the official first day of winter, is on Saturday, December 21, this year (well, for the vast bulk of the world’s population anyway).