New World vulture
Encyclopedia
The New World Vulture or Condor family
Cathartidae contains seven species
in five
genera
, all but one of which are monotypic
. It includes five vulture
s and two condor
s found in warm and temperate areas of the Americas
.
New World vultures are not closely genetically related to the superficially similar family of Old World vulture
s; similarities between the two groups are due to convergent evolution
. Just how closely related they are is a matter of debate (see Taxonomy and nomenclature). The "New World" vultures were widespread in both the Old World and North America
during the Neogene
.
Vultures are scavenging bird
s, feeding mostly from carcasses of dead animal
s. New World vultures have a good sense of smell, but Old World vultures find carcasses exclusively by sight. A particular characteristic of many vultures is a bald head, devoid of feather
s.
The New World vultures comprise seven species in five genera. The genera are Coragyps, Cathartes
, Gymnogyps, Sarcoramphus, and Vultur. Of these, only Cathartes is not monotypic
. The family's scientific name, Cathartidae, comes from cathartes, Greek for "purifier". Although New World vultures have many resemblances to Old World vulture
s they are not very closely related. Rather, they resemble Old World vultures because of convergent evolution
.
New World vultures were traditionally placed in a family of their own in the Falconiformes. However, in the late 20th century some ornithologists argued that they are more closely related to stork
s on the basis of karyotype
, morphological, and behavioral data. Thus some authorities place them in the Ciconiiformes
with the storks and heron
s; Sibley and Monroe (1990) even considered them a subfamily of the stork family. This has been criticized as an oversimplification, and an early DNA sequence study was based on erroneous data and subsequently retracted. Consequently, there is a recent trend to raise the New World vultures to the rank of an independent order Cathartiformes not closely associated with either birds of prey or storks or herons. In 2007 the American Ornithologists' Union
's North American checklist moved Cathartidae back into the lead position in Falconiformes
, but with an asterisk that indicates it is a taxon "that is probably misplaced in the current phylogenetic listing but for which data indicating proper placement are not yet available". The AOU's draft South American checklist places the Cathartidae in their own order, Cathartiformes. However, recent DNA study on the evolutionary relationships between bird groups also suggests that they may be related to the other birds of prey and should be part of a new order Accipitriformes
instead. In 2010, the family remains in the Ciconiiformes order in the AOU's North American check-list.
or Teratorns, essentially an exclusively (North) American counterpart to the New World vultures — the latter were, in prehistoric times, also present in Europe and possibly even evolved there. The Incredible Teratorn is sometimes called "Giant Condor" because it must have looked similar to the modern bird. They were, however, not very closely related but rather another example of convergent evolution, though the external similarity is less emphasized in recent times due to new information suggesting that the teratorns were more predatory than vultures.
The fossil history of the Cathartidae is fairly extensive, but nonetheless confusing. Many taxa that may or may not have been New World vultures were considered to be early representatives of the family. There is no unequivocal European record from the Neogene
.
At any rate, the Cathartidae had a much higher diversity in the Plio
-/Pleistocene
, rivalling the current diversity of Old World vultures and their relatives in shapes, sizes, and ecological niches. Extinct genera are:
These birds are generally large, ranging in length from the Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture at 56–61 centimeters (22–24 in) up to the California and Andean Condors, both of which can reach 120 centimeters (48 in) in length and weigh 12 or more kilograms (26 or more lb). Plumage is predominantly black or brown, and is sometimes marked with white. All species have featherless heads and necks. In some, this skin is brightly colored, and in the King Vulture it is developed into colorful wattles and outgrowths.
All species have long, broad wings and a stiff tail, suitable for soaring. They are the best adapted to soaring of all land birds. The feet are clawed but weak and not adapted to grasping. The front toes are long with small webs at their bases. No New World vulture possesses a syrinx
, the vocal organ of birds, therefore the voice is limited to infrequent grunts and hisses.
The beak is slightly hooked and is relatively weak when compared those of other birds of prey. It is weak because it is adapted to tear the weak flesh of partially rotted carrion, rather than fresh meat. The nostrils are oval and are set in a soft cere
. The nasal passage is not divided by a septum
(they are "perforate"), so from the side one can see through the beak, as in the Turkey Vulture. The eyes are prominent, and unlike those of eagles, hawks and falcons, they are not shaded by a bony brow bone. Members of Coragyps and
Cathartes have a single incomplete row of eyelashes on the upper lid and two rows on the lower lid, while Gymnogyps, Vultur, and Sarcoramphus lack eyelashes altogether.
New World vultures have the unusual habit of urohidrosis
, or defecating on their legs to cool them evaporatively. As this behavior is also present in storks, it is one of the arguments for a close relationship between the two groups.
south in the northern winter. New World vultures inhabit a large variety of habitats and ecosystems, ranging from desert
s to tropical rainforest
s and at heights of sea level to mountain ranges, using their highly adapted sense of smell to locate carrion. These species of birds are also occasionally seen in human settlements, perhaps emerging to feed upon the food sources provided from roadkills.
All living species of New World vultures and condors are scavengers. Though their diet is overwhelmingly composed of carrion
, some species, such as the American Black Vulture, have been recorded as killing live prey. Other additions to the diet include fruit, eggs, and garbage. An unusual characteristic of the species in genus Cathartes is a highly developed sense of smell, which they use to find carrion. They locate carrion by detecting the scent of ethyl mercaptan
, a gas produced by the bodies of decaying animals. The olfactory lobe
of the brain
s in these species, which is responsible for processing smells, is particularly large compared to that of other animals. Other species, such as the American Black Vulture and the King Vulture, have weak senses of smell and find food only by sight, sometimes by following Cathartes vultures and other scavengers. The head and neck of New World Vultures are featherless as an adaptation for hygiene; this lack of feathers prevents bacteria
from the carrion
it eats from ruining its feathers and exposes the skin to the sterilizing effects of the sun.
. The parents feed the young by regurgitation
. The young are altricial
and fledge in 2 to 3 months.
. It formerly ranged from Baja California to British Columbia, but by 1937 was restricted to California. In 1987, all surviving birds were removed from the wild into a captive breeding program to ensure the species' survival. In 2005, there were 127 Californian Condors in the wild. As of October 31, 2009 there were 180 birds in the wild. The Andean Condor is near threatened
.
The American Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, and Greater Yellow-headed Vulture are listed as species of Least Concern by the IUCN Red List
. This means that populations appear to remain stable, and they have not reached the threshold of inclusion as a threatened species, which requires a decline of more than 30 percent in ten years or three generations.
hieroglyphs in Mayan codices. The King Vulture is one of the most common species of birds represented in the Mayan codices. Its glyph
is easily distinguishable by the knob on the bird’s beak and by the concentric circles that represent the bird’s eyes. It is sometimes portrayed as a god with a human body and a bird head. According to Mayan mythology, this god often carried messages between humans and the other gods. It is also used to represent Cozcaquauhtli, the thirteenth day of the month in the Mayan calendar. In Mayan codices, the American Black Vulture is normally connected with death or shown as a bird of prey, and its glyph is often depicted attacking humans. This species lacks the religious connections that the King Vulture
has. While some of the glyphs clearly show the American Black Vulture’s open nostril and hooked beak, some are assumed to be this species because they are vulture-like and painted black, but lack the King Vulture’s knob.
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Cathartidae contains seven species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
in five
genera
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
, all but one of which are monotypic
Monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...
. It includes five vulture
Vulture
Vulture is the name given to two groups of convergently evolved scavenging birds, the New World Vultures including the well-known Californian and Andean Condors, and the Old World Vultures including the birds which are seen scavenging on carcasses of dead animals on African plains...
s and two condor
Condor
Condor is the name for two species of New World vultures, each in a monotypic genus. They are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere.They are:* The Andean Condor which inhabits the Andean mountains....
s found in warm and temperate areas of the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
.
New World vultures are not closely genetically related to the superficially similar family of Old World vulture
Old World vulture
Old World vultures belong to the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, buzzards, kites, and hawks.Old World vultures are not closely related to the superficially similar New World vultures and condors, and do not share that group's good sense of smell. The similarities between the two...
s; similarities between the two groups are due to convergent evolution
Convergent evolution
Convergent evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated lineages.The wing is a classic example of convergent evolution in action. Although their last common ancestor did not have wings, both birds and bats do, and are capable of powered flight. The wings are...
. Just how closely related they are is a matter of debate (see Taxonomy and nomenclature). The "New World" vultures were widespread in both the Old World and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
during the Neogene
Neogene
The Neogene is a geologic period and system in the International Commission on Stratigraphy Geologic Timescale starting 23.03 ± 0.05 million years ago and ending 2.588 million years ago...
.
Vultures are scavenging bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s, feeding mostly from carcasses of dead animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
s. New World vultures have a good sense of smell, but Old World vultures find carcasses exclusively by sight. A particular characteristic of many vultures is a bald head, devoid of feather
Feather
Feathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds and some non-avian theropod dinosaurs. They are considered the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates, and indeed a premier example of a complex evolutionary novelty. They...
s.
Taxonomy and nomenclature
Cathartes
The genus Cathartes includes medium-sized to large carrion-feeding birds in the New World vulture family. The three species currently classified in this genus occur widely in the Americas.- Description :...
, Gymnogyps, Sarcoramphus, and Vultur. Of these, only Cathartes is not monotypic
Monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...
. The family's scientific name, Cathartidae, comes from cathartes, Greek for "purifier". Although New World vultures have many resemblances to Old World vulture
Old World vulture
Old World vultures belong to the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, buzzards, kites, and hawks.Old World vultures are not closely related to the superficially similar New World vultures and condors, and do not share that group's good sense of smell. The similarities between the two...
s they are not very closely related. Rather, they resemble Old World vultures because of convergent evolution
Convergent evolution
Convergent evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated lineages.The wing is a classic example of convergent evolution in action. Although their last common ancestor did not have wings, both birds and bats do, and are capable of powered flight. The wings are...
.
New World vultures were traditionally placed in a family of their own in the Falconiformes. However, in the late 20th century some ornithologists argued that they are more closely related to stork
Stork
Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family Ciconiidae. They are the only family in the biological order Ciconiiformes, which was once much larger and held a number of families....
s on the basis of karyotype
Karyotype
A karyotype is the number and appearance of chromosomes in the nucleus of an eukaryotic cell. The term is also used for the complete set of chromosomes in a species, or an individual organism.p28...
, morphological, and behavioral data. Thus some authorities place them in the Ciconiiformes
Ciconiiformes
Traditionally, the order Ciconiiformes has included a variety of large, long-legged wading birds with large bills: storks, herons, egrets, ibises, spoonbills, and several others. Ciconiiformes are known from the Late Eocene...
with the storks and heron
Heron
The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae. There are 64 recognised species in this family. Some are called "egrets" or "bitterns" instead of "heron"....
s; Sibley and Monroe (1990) even considered them a subfamily of the stork family. This has been criticized as an oversimplification, and an early DNA sequence study was based on erroneous data and subsequently retracted. Consequently, there is a recent trend to raise the New World vultures to the rank of an independent order Cathartiformes not closely associated with either birds of prey or storks or herons. In 2007 the American Ornithologists' Union
American Ornithologists' Union
The American Ornithologists' Union is an ornithological organization in the USA. Unlike the National Audubon Society, its members are primarily professional ornithologists rather than amateur birders...
's North American checklist moved Cathartidae back into the lead position in Falconiformes
Falconiformes
The order Falconiformes is a group of about 290 species of birds that comprises the diurnal birds of prey. Raptor classification is difficult and the order is treated in several ways.- Classification problems :...
, but with an asterisk that indicates it is a taxon "that is probably misplaced in the current phylogenetic listing but for which data indicating proper placement are not yet available". The AOU's draft South American checklist places the Cathartidae in their own order, Cathartiformes. However, recent DNA study on the evolutionary relationships between bird groups also suggests that they may be related to the other birds of prey and should be part of a new order Accipitriformes
Accipitriformes
The Accipitriformes is an order that has been proposed to include most of the diurnal birds of prey: hawks, eagles, vultures, and many others, about 225 species in all. For a long time, the majority view has been to include them with the falcons in the Falconiformes, but some authorities have...
instead. In 2010, the family remains in the Ciconiiformes order in the AOU's North American check-list.
Extant species
- Genus Coragyps
- Black VultureBlack vultureBlack vulture may refer to:* American Black Vulture* Eurasian Black Vulture...
Coragyps atratus in South America and north to US
- Black Vulture
- Genus CathartesCathartesThe genus Cathartes includes medium-sized to large carrion-feeding birds in the New World vulture family. The three species currently classified in this genus occur widely in the Americas.- Description :...
- Turkey VultureTurkey VultureThe Turkey Vulture is a bird found throughout most of the Americas. It is also known in some North American regions as the Turkey Buzzard , and in some areas of the Caribbean as the John Crow or Carrion Crow...
Cathartes aura throughout the Americas to southern Canada - Lesser Yellow-headed VultureLesser Yellow-headed VultureThe 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 until they were split in 1964...
Cathartes burrovianus in South America and north to Mexico - Greater Yellow-headed VultureGreater Yellow-headed VultureThe 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 they were split in 1964. It is found in South America in...
Cathartes melambrotus in the Amazon BasinAmazon BasinThe Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries that drains an area of about , or roughly 40 percent of South America. The basin is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela...
of tropical South America
- Turkey Vulture
- Genus Gymnogyps
- California CondorCalifornia CondorThe California Condor is a New World vulture, the largest North American land bird. Currently, this condor inhabits only the Grand Canyon area, Zion National Park, and coastal mountains of central and southern California and northern Baja California...
Gymnogyps californianus in California. Formerly widespread in the mountains of western North America.
- California Condor
- Genus Vultur
- Andean CondorAndean CondorThe Andean Condor is a species of South American bird in the New World vulture family Cathartidae and is the only member of the genus Vultur...
Vultur gryphus in the AndesAndesThe Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
- Andean Condor
- Genus Sarcorhamphus
- King VultureKing VultureThe King Vulture is a large bird found in Central and South America. It is a member of the New World vulture family Cathartidae. This vulture lives predominantly in tropical lowland forests stretching from southern Mexico to northern Argentina, though some believe that William Bartram's Painted...
Sarcoramphus papa from Southern Mexico to northern Argentina
- King Vulture
Extinct species and fossils
A related extinct family were the TeratornithidaeTeratornithidae
Teratorns were very large birds of prey that lived in North and South America from Miocene to Pleistocene. They include some of the largest known flying birds. So far, at least four species have been identified:*Teratornis merriami . This is by far the best-known species...
or Teratorns, essentially an exclusively (North) American counterpart to the New World vultures — the latter were, in prehistoric times, also present in Europe and possibly even evolved there. The Incredible Teratorn is sometimes called "Giant Condor" because it must have looked similar to the modern bird. They were, however, not very closely related but rather another example of convergent evolution, though the external similarity is less emphasized in recent times due to new information suggesting that the teratorns were more predatory than vultures.
The fossil history of the Cathartidae is fairly extensive, but nonetheless confusing. Many taxa that may or may not have been New World vultures were considered to be early representatives of the family. There is no unequivocal European record from the Neogene
Neogene
The Neogene is a geologic period and system in the International Commission on Stratigraphy Geologic Timescale starting 23.03 ± 0.05 million years ago and ending 2.588 million years ago...
.
At any rate, the Cathartidae had a much higher diversity in the Plio
Pliocene
The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...
-/Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
, rivalling the current diversity of Old World vultures and their relatives in shapes, sizes, and ecological niches. Extinct genera are:
- Diatropornis ("European Vulture") Late Eocene/Early Oligocene -? Middle Oligocene of France
- Phasmagyps Early Oligocene of WC North America
- Cathartidae gen. et sp. indet. (Late Oligocene of Mongolia)
- Brasilogyps Late Oligocene - Early Miocene of Brazil
- Hadrogyps ("American Dwarf Vulture") Middle Miocene of SW North America
- Cathartidae gen. et sp. indet. Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of Lee Creek Mine, USA
- Pliogyps ("Miocene Vulture") Late Miocene - Late Pliocene of S North America
- Perugyps ("Peruvian Vulture)" Pisco Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of SC Peru
- Dryornis ("Argetinean Vulture") Early - Late? Pliocene of Argentina; may belong to modern genus Vultur
- Cathartidae gen. et sp. indet. (Middle Pliocene of Argentina
- Aizenogyps ("South American Vulture") Late Pliocene of SE North America
- Breagyps ("Long-legged Vulture)" Late Pleistocene of SW North America
- Geronogyps Late Pleistocene of Argentina and Peru
- Wingegyps ("Amazonian Vulture") Late Pleistocene of Brazil
- Cathartidae gen. et sp. indet. (Cuba)
Description
All species have long, broad wings and a stiff tail, suitable for soaring. They are the best adapted to soaring of all land birds. The feet are clawed but weak and not adapted to grasping. The front toes are long with small webs at their bases. No New World vulture possesses a syrinx
Syrinx (biology)
Syrinx is the name for the vocal organ of birds. Located at the base of a bird's trachea, it produces sounds without the vocal cords of mammals. The sound is produced by vibrations of some or all of the membrana tympaniformis and the pessulus caused by air flowing through the syrinx...
, the vocal organ of birds, therefore the voice is limited to infrequent grunts and hisses.
The beak is slightly hooked and is relatively weak when compared those of other birds of prey. It is weak because it is adapted to tear the weak flesh of partially rotted carrion, rather than fresh meat. The nostrils are oval and are set in a soft cere
Cère
The Cère is a long river in south-western France, left tributary of the Dordogne River. Its source is in the south-western Massif Central, near the mountain Plomb du Cantal...
. The nasal passage is not divided by a septum
Nasal septum
The nasal septum separates the left and right airways in the nose, dividing the two nostrils.It is depressed by the Depressor septi nasi muscle.-Composition:The fleshy external end of the nasal septum is sometimes also called columella....
(they are "perforate"), so from the side one can see through the beak, as in the Turkey Vulture. The eyes are prominent, and unlike those of eagles, hawks and falcons, they are not shaded by a bony brow bone. Members of Coragyps and
Cathartes have a single incomplete row of eyelashes on the upper lid and two rows on the lower lid, while Gymnogyps, Vultur, and Sarcoramphus lack eyelashes altogether.
New World vultures have the unusual habit of urohidrosis
Urohidrosis
Urohidrosis is the habit in some birds of defecating onto the scaly portions of the legs as a cooling mechanism, using evaporative cooling of the fluids. Several species of storks and New World vultures exhibit this behaviour. Birds' droppings consist of faeces and urine, which are excreted...
, or defecating on their legs to cool them evaporatively. As this behavior is also present in storks, it is one of the arguments for a close relationship between the two groups.
Distribution and habitat
New World vultures are restricted to the Western Hemisphere. They can be found from southern Canada to South America. Most species are mainly resident, but the Turkey Vulture populations breeding in Canada and the northern US migrateBird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
south in the northern winter. New World vultures inhabit a large variety of habitats and ecosystems, ranging from desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
s to tropical rainforest
Tropical rainforest
A tropical rainforest is an ecosystem type that occurs roughly within the latitudes 28 degrees north or south of the equator . This ecosystem experiences high average temperatures and a significant amount of rainfall...
s and at heights of sea level to mountain ranges, using their highly adapted sense of smell to locate carrion. These species of birds are also occasionally seen in human settlements, perhaps emerging to feed upon the food sources provided from roadkills.
Feeding
Carrion
Carrion refers to the carcass of a dead animal. Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters include vultures, hawks, eagles, hyenas, Virginia Opossum, Tasmanian Devils, coyotes, Komodo dragons, and burying beetles...
, some species, such as the American Black Vulture, have been recorded as killing live prey. Other additions to the diet include fruit, eggs, and garbage. An unusual characteristic of the species in genus Cathartes is a highly developed sense of smell, which they use to find carrion. They locate carrion by detecting the scent of ethyl mercaptan
Ethanethiol
Ethanethiol is an organic compound with the formula CH3CH2SH. It consists of an ethyl group, CH3CH2, attached to a thiol group, SH. Its structure parallels that of ethanol, but with S instead of O. The presence of S leads to many different properties, most notably the infamous odour of EtSH...
, a gas produced by the bodies of decaying animals. The olfactory lobe
Olfaction
Olfaction is the sense of smell. This sense is mediated by specialized sensory cells of the nasal cavity of vertebrates, and, by analogy, sensory cells of the antennae of invertebrates...
of the brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
s in these species, which is responsible for processing smells, is particularly large compared to that of other animals. Other species, such as the American Black Vulture and the King Vulture, have weak senses of smell and find food only by sight, sometimes by following Cathartes vultures and other scavengers. The head and neck of New World Vultures are featherless as an adaptation for hygiene; this lack of feathers prevents bacteria
Bacteria
Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...
from the carrion
Carrion
Carrion refers to the carcass of a dead animal. Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters include vultures, hawks, eagles, hyenas, Virginia Opossum, Tasmanian Devils, coyotes, Komodo dragons, and burying beetles...
it eats from ruining its feathers and exposes the skin to the sterilizing effects of the sun.
Breeding
New World vultures and condors do not build nests. Instead, they lay eggs on bare surfaces. One to three eggs are laid, depending on the species. Chicks are naked at hatching and later grow downDown feather
The down of birds is a layer of fine feathers found under the tougher exterior feathers. Very young birds are clad only in down. Powder down is a specialized type of down found only in a few groups of birds. Down is a fine thermal insulator and padding, used in goods such as jackets, bedding,...
. The parents feed the young by regurgitation
Regurgitation (digestion)
Regurgitation is the expulsion of material from the mouth, pharynx, or esophagus, usually characterized by the presence of undigested food or blood.Regurgitation is used by a number of species to feed their young...
. The young are altricial
Altricial
Altricial, meaning "requiring nourishment", refers to a pattern of growth and development in organisms which are incapable of moving around on their own soon after hatching or being born...
and fledge in 2 to 3 months.
Status and conservation
The California Condor is critically endangeredCritically endangered
Version 2010.3 of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 3744 Critically Endangered species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and subpopulations.Critically Endangered by kingdom:*1993 Animalia*2 Fungi*1745 Plantae*4 Protista-References:...
. It formerly ranged from Baja California to British Columbia, but by 1937 was restricted to California. In 1987, all surviving birds were removed from the wild into a captive breeding program to ensure the species' survival. In 2005, there were 127 Californian Condors in the wild. As of October 31, 2009 there were 180 birds in the wild. The Andean Condor is near threatened
Near Threatened
Near Threatened is a conservation status assigned to species or lower taxa that may be considered threatened with extinction in the near future, although it does not currently qualify for the threatened status...
.
The American Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, and Greater Yellow-headed Vulture are listed as species of Least Concern by the IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
. This means that populations appear to remain stable, and they have not reached the threshold of inclusion as a threatened species, which requires a decline of more than 30 percent in ten years or three generations.
In culture
The American Black Vulture and the King Vulture appear in a variety of MayaMaya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
hieroglyphs in Mayan codices. The King Vulture is one of the most common species of birds represented in the Mayan codices. Its glyph
Glyph
A glyph is an element of writing: an individual mark on a written medium that contributes to the meaning of what is written. A glyph is made up of one or more graphemes....
is easily distinguishable by the knob on the bird’s beak and by the concentric circles that represent the bird’s eyes. It is sometimes portrayed as a god with a human body and a bird head. According to Mayan mythology, this god often carried messages between humans and the other gods. It is also used to represent Cozcaquauhtli, the thirteenth day of the month in the Mayan calendar. In Mayan codices, the American Black Vulture is normally connected with death or shown as a bird of prey, and its glyph is often depicted attacking humans. This species lacks the religious connections that the King Vulture
King Vulture
The King Vulture is a large bird found in Central and South America. It is a member of the New World vulture family Cathartidae. This vulture lives predominantly in tropical lowland forests stretching from southern Mexico to northern Argentina, though some believe that William Bartram's Painted...
has. While some of the glyphs clearly show the American Black Vulture’s open nostril and hooked beak, some are assumed to be this species because they are vulture-like and painted black, but lack the King Vulture’s knob.
External links
- New World Vulture videos, photos and sounds on the Internet Bird Collection
- New World Vulture sounds on xeno-canto.org