King vulture
Physical features
Length is 2 to 2 ½ feet long from hook of its beak to the tip of its tail. Wingspan can be 6 ½ feet (2 meters).
It weighs 6-8 pounds (2.5-3.5 kilos)
The body plumage includes under wing coverts which are creamy white; the rump, tail and most of wings are black.
Head and neck coloring is a mixture of red, orange, yellow and purplish-blue. Eyes are white with reddish outer rings.
The bright head and neck of the king vulture are nearly bare of plumage, with only bristly feathers on the crown.
Its strongly hooked bill is very powerful.
They are not very gregarious and live alone most of the time or in pairs.
They are not sexually dimorphic; males and females look alike.
Diet: Carnivore
Wild – carrion, dead animal flesh
Zoo – mice, chicks, bird of prey prepared meal (ground meat, vitamins, & corn)
Lifespan
Wild – less than 30 years
Zoo – up to 50 years
Reproduction
King vultures court each other by whistling, hissing, flapping their wings and circling each other.
The female lays 1 white eggs in hollow tree stumps. The male helps incubate the eggs.
Eggs hatch between 56-58 days.
The male hunts while the female remains with the chicks. On his return, he feeds the female and the chicks regurgitated carrion.
Approximately 3 months after hatching, chicks will have all their feathers and can fly from stump to stump. It remains dependent upon its parents until it is 8 months old and may remain near them for up to two years.
Chicks are covered in white down, except on head and feet. The first plumage is a uniform sooty black with varying amounts of concealed white below. By the time is it 6 or 7 years old, the young vulture has its adult plumage, brightly colored head and is sexually mature.
Conservation: Least Concern
Major Threats: Habitat loss
There is evidence of a population decline, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List.
Interpretive Information
Since these birds do not have feathers on their heads and necks, they do not become caked in blood and remnants of their meal.
They spend much of their time perched in the forest, or sailing along just above the treetops (although they can soar higher).
Sometimes fly 3 or 4 together in the air.
Because the king vulture does not have a keen sense of smell, it often follows other vulture species including black and turkey vultures to a feeding site. However, once there, the king vulture dominates the feeding site and feasts on the carrion first.
The powerful, hooked beak of the vulture rips into the body and tears open the carrion. The other vultures’ beaks are not strong enough to do this, so allowing the king vulture to eat first.
References
BirdLife International. (2004). Sarcoramphus papa. Retrieved March 21, 2008, from the 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Web site: http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/ 49651/summ
King Vulture (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2004, from the Chaffee Zoo Web site: http://www.chaffeezoo.org/animals/kingVulture.html
Ormiston, D. (2003). Sarcoramphus papa. Retreived November 15, 2004, from the Animal Diversity Web site: http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Sarcoramphus_papa.html
King Vulture (2003). Retreived November 15, 2004, from the Great Plains Zoo and Delbridge Museum Web site: http://www.gpzoo.org/FS%20King%20Vulture.htm
Updated March 2008