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A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion.There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). [2] Old World vultures 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 kettle of Turkey vultures circle their prey over the Mojave Desert. A kettle is a group of birds wheeling and circling in the air. The kettle may be composed of several different species at the same time.
The black vulture locates food either by sight or by following New World vultures of the genus Cathartes to carcasses. [54] These vultures—the turkey vulture, the lesser yellow-headed vulture, and the greater yellow-headed vulture—forage by detecting the scent of ethyl mercaptan, a gas produced by the beginnings of decay in dead animals. [55]
Vultures are scavengers and carrion-eating raptors of two distinct biological families: the Old World vultures (Accipitridae), which occurs only in the Eastern Hemisphere; and the New World vultures (Cathartidae), which occurs only in the Western Hemisphere. Members of both groups have heads either partly or fully devoid of feathers.
The similarities between the two groups of vultures are due to convergent evolution, rather than a close relationship. They were widespread in both the Old World and North America during the Neogene. Old World vultures are probably a polyphyletic group within Accipitridae, belonging to two separate not closely related groups within the family. [2]
Vultures are misunderstood birds that have gotten an unfair reputation.
The turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) is the most widespread of the New World vultures. [2] One of three species in the genus Cathartes of the family Cathartidae, the turkey vulture ranges from southern Canada to the southernmost tip of South America. It inhabits a variety of open and semi-open areas, including subtropical forests, shrublands ...
A Place Called Hope posted a message calling the vultures "the dynamic duo" after they found the birds just before last Monday's eclipse on April 8 "literally drunk," the group said.