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The Cathartidae
family includes seven kinds of vultures. These vultures are
called “New World Vultures” because they live in North and South
America. Some New World Vultures are:
If you compare
New World vultures with Old World vultures, you will see that
they are alike in some ways. New and Old World vultures:
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Eat animals that are
already dead. |
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Have heads without
feathers. |
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Have strong beaks. |
Even though they are the same in
those ways, they have characteristics that are different. New
World Vultures:
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Don’t have a voice
box so they don’t make much noise. |
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Don’t build nests.
They lay twigs and branches right on the ground or
on
platforms. |
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Smell their prey
where Old World vultures have to see their prey. |
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Have a stiff tail
and a wide wingspan so that they can fly strongly.
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Right now, New World vultures are in
the Cathartidae family but scientists have been studying them to
see if they really belong there. They think that they are part
of the stork and heron family and belong with those birds
because they are like them in some ways. Check out our
scientific classification page to see how a bird’s
family is decided.
Works
Cited:
“New World
Vulture.” 18 Oct. 2007. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathartidae>.
“New World
Vultures Cathartidae.” 18 Oct. 2007. <http://www.discoverlife.org/20/q?search=Cathartidae>.
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