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Black Vulture

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Raptors

Scientific Classification

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Conservation
Scientific name: Coragyps atratus  
Family name:  Cathartidae

Are they endangered? No, they are not threatened worldwide. (IUCN Redlist: Least concern)

What are their past/present problems?  They have problems when their nesting area gets too developed.  They also get killed by cars and trucks when they are eating an animal on the road.
What do they look like?  Black vultures have black backs, wings, and bellies.  Their heads are bumpy and bald.  Their feet are gray.

How big are they?  These birds are about 2 feet long.  If their wings are fully spread out, they reach about five feet wide.

Black Vulture

How many eggs do they lay?  The female lays 1 to 2 white eggs that hatch after about 40 days.

How long do the fledglings stay in the nest?  They don’t build nests like we see in trees.  They nest on the ground or in empty buildings. Sometimes they just lay their eggs on the ground or between rocks.  The young birds (fledglings) stay in the nest for around 3 months.

When do they hunt?  They hunt during the day. (diurnal)  A whole flock of Black Vultures will hunt and eat together.

What do they eat?  Black Vultures eat dead animals and garbage.  They locate food by sight.

Where do they live?  They live in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean Islands, and South America.

What kind of place do they like to live in?  They like grasslands, farm fields, and forests.
Interesting facts:

They have a bald head which is handy when they stick their head in a dead animal.  It keeps their feathers clean.
The Black Vulture’s stomach sterilizes the food that it eats so that it doesn’t get sick.

Works Cited:

Black vulture.   5 Oct. 2007.  <http://www.peregrinefund.org/Explore_Raptors/vultures/blackvul.html>.

Coragyps atratus.  5 Oct. 2007.  <http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/49647/all>.

Miller, Claire.  “It’s great to be gross.”  Ranger Rick.  Oct. 2001: vol 35, Issue 10, p. 14.

Raptor Bites RB-26: Black Vultures.  5 Oct. 2007.  <http://hawkmountain.org/media/speciesinfo.pdf>.

Schmoker, Bill.  “Re: Owl pictures (etc.).”   E-mail to Club Web.  2 Nov. 2007. 

Vanner, Michael.  Field guide to the birds of North America.  United Kingdom:  Parragon, 2006.

Wells, Diana.  100 Birds and how they got their names.  Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books, 2002.

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Gross facts
They don’t feed their babies food they bring to the nest.  They eat the food and then upchuck it for their babies.  They also upchuck when they are in danger.

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