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A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on
carrion Carrion () is the decaying flesh of dead animals, including human flesh. Overview Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters (or scavengers) include crows, vultures, c ...
. There are 23
extant Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extinct, ...
species of vulture (including Condors).
Old World vulture Old World vultures are vultures that are found in the Old World, i.e. the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, and which belong to the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, buzzards, kites, and hawks. Old World vultures are not clos ...
s 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. A particular characteristic of many vultures is a bald, unfeathered
head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...
. This bare skin is thought to keep the head clean when feeding, and also plays an important role in thermoregulation. Vultures have been observed to hunch their bodies and tuck in their heads in the cold, and open their wings and stretch their necks in the heat. They also urinate on themselves as a means of cooling their bodies. A group of vultures in flight is called a 'kettle', while the term 'committee' refers to a group of vultures resting on the ground or in trees. A group of vultures that are feeding is termed a 'wake'.


Taxonomy

Although New World vultures and
Old World vulture Old World vultures are vultures that are found in the Old World, i.e. the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, and which belong to the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, buzzards, kites, and hawks. Old World vultures are not clos ...
s share many resemblances, they are not very closely related. Rather, they share resemblance because of convergent evolution. Early naturalists placed all vultures under one single biological group. Carl Linnaeus had assigned both Old World vultures and New World vultures in a ''Vultur'' genus, even including the harpy eagle. Soon anatomists split Old and New World vultures, with New World vultures being placed in a new suborder, ''Cathartae'', later renamed ''
Cathartidae The New World vulture or condor family, Cathartidae, contains seven extant species in five genera. It includes five extant vultures and two extant condors found in warm and temperate areas of the Americas. The "New World" vultures were widespread ...
'' as per the Rules of Nomenclature (from Greek: ''carthartes'', meaning "purifier") by French ornithologist Frédéric de Lafresnaye. The suborder was later recognised as a family, rather than a suborder. In the late 20th century some ornithologists argued that New World vultures are more closely related to
stork Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons an ...
s on the basis of
karyotype A karyotype is the general appearance of the complete set of metaphase chromosomes in the cells of a species or in an individual organism, mainly including their sizes, numbers, and shapes. Karyotyping is the process by which a karyotype is disce ...
, morphological, and behavioral data. Thus some authorities placed them in the Ciconiiformes family with
stork Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons an ...
s and
heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...
s; Sibley and Monroe (1990) even considered them a subfamily of the storks. This was criticized, and an early DNA sequence study was based on erroneous data and subsequently retracted. There was then an attempt to raise the New World vultures to the rank of an independent order, Cathartiformes not closely associated with either the birds of prey or the storks and herons.


Old World vultures

The
Old World vulture Old World vultures are vultures that are found in the Old World, i.e. the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, and which belong to the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, buzzards, kites, and hawks. Old World vultures are not clos ...
s found in Africa, Asia, and Europe belong to the family Accipitridae, which also includes
eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...
s, kites, buzzards, and
hawk Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. Th ...
s. Old World vultures find carcasses exclusively by sight. The 16 species in 9 genera are: * Cinereous vulture, ''Aegypius monachus'' * Griffon vulture, ''Gyps fulvus'' * White-rumped vulture, ''Gyps bengalensis'' * Rüppell's vulture, ''Gyps rueppelli'' * Indian vulture, ''Gyps indicus'' *
Slender-billed vulture The slender-billed vulture (''Gyps tenuirostris'') is an Old World vulture species native to sub-Himalayan regions and Southeast Asia. It is Critically Endangered since 2002 as the population on the Indian subcontinent has declined rapidly. As ...
, ''Gyps tenuirostris'' * Himalayan vulture, ''Gyps himalayensis'' * White-backed vulture, ''Gyps africanus'' * Cape vulture, ''Gyps coprotheres'' *
Hooded vulture The hooded vulture (''Necrosyrtes monachus'') is an Old World vulture in the order Accipitriformes, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. It is the only member of the genus ''Necrosyrtes,'' which is sister to the larger ''Gyps ...
, ''Necrosyrtes monachus'' *
Red-headed vulture The red-headed vulture (''Sarcogyps calvus''), also known as the Asian king vulture, Indian black vulture or Pondicherry vulture, is an Old World vulture mainly found in the Indian subcontinent, with small disjunct populations in some parts of So ...
, ''Sarcogyps calvus'' * Lappet-faced vulture, ''Torgos tracheliotos'' *
White-headed vulture The white-headed vulture (''Trigonoceps occipitalis'') is an Old World vulture endemic to Africa. Populations have been declining steeply in recent years due to habitat degradation and poisoning of vultures at carcasses. An extinct relative was a ...
, ''Trigonoceps occipitalis'' * Bearded vulture (Lammergeier), ''Gypaetus barbatus'' *
Egyptian vulture The Egyptian vulture (''Neophron percnopterus''), also called the white scavenger vulture or pharaoh's chicken, is a small Old World vulture and the only member of the genus ''Neophron''. It is widely distributed from the Iberian Peninsula and ...
, ''Neophron percnopterus'' *
Palm-nut vulture The palm-nut vulture (''Gypohierax angolensis'') or vulturine fish eagle, is a large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae (which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, buzzards and harriers, vultures, and eagles). It is the o ...
, ''Gypohierax angolensis'' File:Wiki vulture2.jpg, Some members of both the Old and New World vultures have an unfeathered neck and head, shown as radiating heat in this thermographic image. File:Gyps fulvus feeding.jpg, Griffon vultures scavenging a red deer carcass in Spain File:Vulture 19o05.jpg, Griffon vulture soaring File:Vulture11.jpg, Vulture preparing to land in Kenya File:African Hooded Vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus), Kruger National Park.jpg, African hooded vulture in
Kruger National Park Kruger National Park is a South African National Park and one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa, and extends from north to south and from ea ...
File:White-backed vultures eating a dead wildebeest.JPG, A wake of white-backed vultures eating a wildebeest carcass in
Maasai Mara Maasai Mara, also sometimes spelled Masai Mara and locally known simply as The Mara, is a large national game reserve in Narok, Kenya, contiguous with the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. It is named in honor of the Maasai people, the ancestr ...
File:White-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis) Flock gathered near carcass Photograph by Shantanu Kuveskar.jpg, Flock of white-rumped vultures in India File:Vulture's head Park Mellat Tehran.JPG, Head of a vulture chick, Iran


New World vultures

The New World vultures and condors found in warm and temperate areas of the
Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...
belong to the family
Cathartidae The New World vulture or condor family, Cathartidae, contains seven extant species in five genera. It includes five extant vultures and two extant condors found in warm and temperate areas of the Americas. The "New World" vultures were widespread ...
. Recent DNA evidence suggests that they should be included within order Accipitriformes along with birds of prey including hawks, eagles, and Old World vultures. Several species have a good sense of smell, unusual for raptors, and are able to smell dead animals from great heights, up to a mile away. The seven species are: * Black vulture ''Coragyps atratus'' in South America and north to the US * Turkey vulture ''Cathartes aura'' throughout the Americas to southern Canada *
Lesser yellow-headed vulture The lesser yellow-headed vulture (''Cathartes burrovianus'') also known as the savannah vulture, is a species of bird in the New World vulture family Cathartidae. It was considered to be the same species as the greater yellow-headed vulture unti ...
''Cathartes burrovianus'' in South America and north to Mexico *
Greater yellow-headed vulture The greater yellow-headed vulture (''Cathartes melambrotus''), also known as the forest vulture, is a species of bird in the New World vulture family Cathartidae. It was considered to be the same species as the lesser yellow-headed vulture until ...
''Cathartes melambrotus'' in the
Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...
of tropical South America * California condor ''Gymnogyps californianus'' in California, formerly widespread in the mountains of western North America * Andean condor ''Vultur gryphus'' in the Andes * King vulture ''Sarcoramphus papa'' from southern Mexico to northern Argentina


Feeding

Vultures are
scavenger Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a herbivorous feeding b ...
s, meaning that they eat dead animals. Outside of the oceans, vultures are the only known obligate scavengers. They rarely attack healthy animals, but may kill the wounded or sick. When a carcass has too thick a hide for its beak to open, it waits for a larger scavenger to eat first. Vast numbers have been seen upon battlefields. They gorge themselves when prey is abundant, until their
crops A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydroponics ...
bulge, and sit, sleepy or half torpid, to digest their food. These birds do not carry food to their young in their talons but disgorge it from their crops. The mountain-dwelling bearded vulture is the only vertebrate to specialize in eating bones; it carries bones to the nest for the young, and hunts some live prey. Vultures are of great value as scavengers, especially in hot regions. Vulture stomach acid is exceptionally corrosive ( pH=1.0), allowing them to safely digest putrid carcasses infected with
botulinum toxin Botulinum toxin, or botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT), is a neurotoxic protein produced by the bacterium ''Clostridium botulinum'' and related species. It prevents the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from axon endings at the neuromusc ...
, hog cholera bacteria, and
anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...
bacteria that would be lethal to other scavengers and remove these bacteria from the environment. New World vultures often vomit when threatened or approached. Contrary to some accounts, they do not "projectile vomit" on their attacker in defence, but to lighten their stomach load to ease take-off. The vomited meal residue may distract a predator, allowing the bird to escape. New World vultures also urinate straight down their legs; the uric acid kills bacteria accumulated from walking through carcasses, and also acts as evaporative cooling.


Conservation status

Vultures in south Asia, mainly in India and Nepal, have declined dramatically since the early 1990s. It has been found that this decline was caused by residues of the veterinary drug Diclofenac in animal carcasses. The government of India has taken very late cognizance of this fact and has banned the drug for animals. However, it may take decades for vultures to come back to their earlier population level, if they ever do: without vultures to pick corpses clean, rabies-carrying dogs have multiplied, feeding on the
carrion Carrion () is the decaying flesh of dead animals, including human flesh. Overview Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters (or scavengers) include crows, vultures, c ...
, and age-old practices like the sky burials of the
Parsee Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...
s are coming to an end, permanently reducing the supply of corpses. The same problem is also seen in Nepal where government has taken some late steps to conserve remaining vultures. The vulture population is threatened across Africa and Eurasia. There are many anthropogenic activities that threaten vultures such as poisoning and wind energy collision mortality. In Central Africa there have been efforts to conserve the remaining vultures and bring their population numbers back up. This is largely due to the bushmeat trade, "it is estimated that more than of wild animal meat is traded" and vultures take up a large percentage of this bushmeat due to the demand in the fetish market. The substantial drop in vulture populations in the continent of Africa is also said to be the result of both intentional and unintentional poisoning, with one study finding it to be the cause of 61% of the vulture deaths recorded. A recent study in 2016, reported that "of the 22 vulture species, nine are critically endangered, three are endangered, four are near threatened, and six are least concern". The conservation status of vultures is of particular concern to humans. For example, the decline of vulture populations can lead to increased disease transmission and resource damage, through increased populations of disease vector and
pest Pest or The Pest may refer to: Science and medicine * Pest (organism), an animal or plant deemed to be detrimental to humans or human concerns ** Weed, a plant considered undesirable * Infectious disease, an illness resulting from an infection ** ...
animal populations that scavenge carcasses opportunistically. Vultures control these pests and disease vectors indirectly through competition for carcasses. On 20 June 2019, the corpses of 468 white-backed vultures, 17
white-headed vulture The white-headed vulture (''Trigonoceps occipitalis'') is an Old World vulture endemic to Africa. Populations have been declining steeply in recent years due to habitat degradation and poisoning of vultures at carcasses. An extinct relative was a ...
s, 28
hooded vulture The hooded vulture (''Necrosyrtes monachus'') is an Old World vulture in the order Accipitriformes, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. It is the only member of the genus ''Necrosyrtes,'' which is sister to the larger ''Gyps ...
s, 14 lappet-faced vultures and 10 cape vultures, altogether 537 vultures, besides 2 tawny eagles, were found in northern Botswana. It is suspected that they died after eating the corpses of 3 elephants that were poisoned by poachers, possibly to avoid detection by the birds, which help rangers to track poaching activity by circling above where there are dead animals.


In myth and culture

In Ancient Egyptian art, Nekhbet, a mythological goddess and patron of both the city of Nekheb and Upper Egypt was depicted as a vulture. Alan Gardiner identified the species that was used in divine iconography as a griffon vulture. Arielle P. Kozloff, however, argues that the vultures in
New Kingdom New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
art, with their blue-tipped beaks and loose skin, better resemble the lappet-faced vulture. Many Great Royal Wives wore vulture crowns - a symbol of protection from the goddess Nekhbet. Ancient Egyptians believed that all vultures were female and were spontaneously born from eggs without the intervention of a male, and therefore linked the birds to purity and motherhood, but also the eternal cycle of death and rebirth for their ability to transform the “death” they feed on – i.e. carrion and waste – into life. In Pre-Columbian times, vultures were appreciated as extraordinary beings and they had high iconographic status. Vultures appear in many Mesoamerican myths, legends, and fables, with many separate civilizations such as the Mayan and Aztec developing a range of stories around vultures. Many Mesoamerican stories depict vultures negatively, while others contain more positive attitudes. File:Aztec vulture vessel.jpg, The Aztec vulture vessel at the new Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican Pottery Gallery File:Egypt.Nekhbet.01.jpg, Nekhbet with staff and shen ring File:Granite Vulture from Temple of Taharqa.jpg, Granite vulture from Temple of Taharqa, Sanam Abu Dom, Napatan Period, 25th Dynasty


See also

*
Jatayu Jatayu ( sa, जटायुः, IAST: ) is a demigod in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana'', who has the form of either an eagle or a vulture. He is the younger son of Aruṇa and his wife Shyeni, the brother of Sampati, as well as the nephew of Garud ...
*
Stele of the Vultures The Stele of the Vultures is a monument from the Early Dynastic IIIb period (2600–2350 BC) in Mesopotamia celebrating a victory of the city-state of Lagash over its neighbour Umma. It shows various battle and religious scenes and is named after ...


References


External links


Vulture videos
on the Internet Bird Collection
Ventana Wildlife Society

Vulture observatory in Spain

A Vulture Restaurant

Declining Vulture Count in India

Vulture Conservation in Western Coast of India

Website for journal ''Vulture News''
{{Vulture 01 Birds of prey Scavengers Bird common names Polyphyletic groups