King Vulture
Sarcorhamphus papa
photo© George Lepp/CORBIS
Size: The King Vulture measures 32 inches, with a wingspan of 4 to 5 feet. This is the largest of the new world vultures, excluding the condors.
Voice:
Diet/Feeding: The King Vulture finds its food with its incredibly keen sight and well-developed sense of smell. It also relies on other gatherings of vultures to alert it as to the presence of food. Though it appears to dominate over a feeding site, this vulture actually relies on other stronger-beaked carrion-eaters to initially rip open the hide of a carcass. Often the first at a carcass-site anyhow, this vulture will eat the eyes of the animal while waiting for the other vultures. Eyes are both highly nutritious and easy to reach before the animal's hide is opened.
Flight: The King vulture spends hours in flight, soaring without flapping it wings for long periods of times. It searches for carcasses while riding thermals, much higher in the air than other species of vulture, which prefer to soar close to the treetops.
Range/Habitat: King Vultures are found ranging from southern Mexico to southern Argentina. These birds prefer densely forested tropical lowland habitat, up to 4000 feet.
Behavior: This vulture is usually the dominant bird at a carcass.
Life Cycle: King vulture chicks are black when they hatch, and retain this plumage for almost three years before they are completely covered with their pure white adult feathers, though they leave their nest area at about one year of age.
Breeding: King Vultures nest on the ground, in treestumps, hollow logs, or other natural cavities. Their nest consists of very little material; usually just scratched out of the existing substrate. Males and females appear identical in coloration and size. The King Vulture usually lays a solitary egg. Both parents share the responsibilities of incubation.
Status: The habitat of the king vulture is decreasing rapidly, and the vulture has become imperiled due to increases in development all over its natural range.
Folklore, Misc. Information: The Mayans of Central America used the King Vulture as their hieroglyph for Cib, the thirteenth day of the month, often accompanied by a rain sign.
A King Vulture in many languages:
Latin: Sarcorhamphus papa, literally "bishop's fleshy beak"
Belize: King jan kro
Dutch: Koninsgier
Spanish: Gallinazo rey
Surinamese: Ganman tingifowru
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