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VultureThe Black Vulture feeds primarily on carrion from city dumps, sewers, slaughterhouses and roadkills along highways. It will also kill and eat baby herons, domestic ducks, newborn calves, baby lambs, skunks and opposums. They soar in a group, alternately flapping and gliding, until one of them discovers carrion, whereupon all the others converge on the find. They are smaller but more aggressive than Turkey Vultures and will drive the latter from a carcass. Both species are often found perched in trees, on fence posts, and on the ground, or flying high overhead, especially on windy days, taking advantage of thermals or updrafts. Unlike Turkey Vultures, Black Vultures depend on their vision to find food. The Black Vulture is black with a white patch near each wing tip that is conspicuous in flight. Its head is bare and grayish in color. Its feet extend beyond the short tail. The Black Vulture flaps its shorter and rounder wings more often and more rapidly than the Turkey Vulture. The Black Vulture is a year-round resident from western Texas and Arkansas north and east to New Jersey (rarely to Massachusetts and Maine) and south to Florida. It prefers open country but breeds in light woodlands and thickets. Black Vulture Range Map The Black Vulture does not construct a nest. It frequently lays its eggs in hollow bases of trees or stumps, rarely more then 10 to 15 feet above ground, but also on the ground, under dense or thorny vegetation, in cavities of rocks, on the floor of caves, on cliff ledges or in abandoned buildings. Visit Shaw
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