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| SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION |
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| COMMON
NAME: |
black
vulture |
| KINGDOM: |
text |
| PHYLUM: |
text |
| CLASS: |
Aves |
| ORDER: |
Falconiformes |
| FAMILY: |
Cathartidae |
| GENUS
SPECIES: |
Coragyps
(raven-vulture) atratus (clothed in black) |
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| DESCRIPTION: |
a
medium-sized, dark vulture with a short, black tail,
whitish legs, and a gray featherless head |
| MALE |
text |
| FEMALE |
text |
|
| SIZE: |
59-74
cm (23-28 in.) with a wingspan of 1.4-1.6 m (55-63
in.) |
| MALE |
text |
| FEMALE |
text |
|
| WEIGHT: |
1.7-2.3
kg (3.8-5.1 lb.) |
| MALE |
text |
| FEMALE |
text |
|
| DIET: |
mainly
carrion, but may also kill and eat small animals
including reptiles, birds, and mammals |
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| INCUBATION: |
37-41 days |
| CLUTCH
SIZE |
2
eggs |
| FLEDGING
DURATION |
text |
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| SEXUAL
MATURITY: |
after
3 years of age |
| MALE |
text |
| FEMALE |
text |
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| LIFE
SPAN: |
may
live up to 25 years |
| MALE |
text |
| FEMALE |
text |
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| RANGE: |
southeastern United States, Central America, and
South America |
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| HABITAT: |
woodlands,
open habitats, and around human settlements; often
seen soaring |
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| POPULATION: |
GLOBAL |
text |
| LOCAL |
text |
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| STATUS: |
IUCN |
text |
| CITES |
not
listed by USFWS or CITES |
| USFWS |
not
listed by USFWS or CITES |
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| 1. |
A
pair of black vultures may remain together and reuse
a successful nesting site for many years. |
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| 2. |
Both the male and female parents take turns incubating
their eggs. |
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| 3. |
Black vultures usually feed together in large groups,
and are so aggressive that other vulture species
will stay away. |
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| 4. |
When
startled, a black vulture may regurgitate partially
digested food to discourage predators and lessen
its weight for flight. |
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| 5. |
Farmers
watch the skies when they need to locate a one of
their cows giving birth. The vultures fly high above
the cows, keeping an eye out for the afterbirth. |
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| 6. |
Vultures
will often urinate on their own legs in order to
increase evaporative cooling in the hot summer months. |
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| 7. |
These
awesome birds are able to eat diseased meat without
getting ill! |
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Black
vultures are common throughout their range, and
people who consider them pests often kill them.
As scavengers, these birds play a vital role in
the environment by removing animal matter that
could otherwise cause the spread of disease.
Vultures
are also predators, occasionally hunting small
animals. Because vultures have a negative image
in many cultures, public education may be one
of the most helpful conservation tools for preserving
these birds.
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|
|
Clark, W.S. and B.K. Wheeler. Peterson Field
Guide: Hawks. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.,
1987. |
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Gotch, A.F. Birds - Their Latin Names Explained.
Dorset: Blandford Press, 1981. |
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Palmer, R.S. (ed.). Handbook of North American
Birds. Vol. 4. New Haven: Yale University
Press, 1988.
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| Peterson,
R.T. Peterson Field Guide: Eastern Birds.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1980. |
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