King vulture

King Vulture
Scientific classification
Kingdom Information
Domain	Eukaryota
Kingdom	Animalia
Subkingdom	Bilateria
Phylum Information
Phylum	Chordata
Sub-phylum	Vertebrata
Infraphylum	Gnathostomata
Class Information
Superclass	Tetrapoda
Class	Aves
Sub-class	Neornithes
Order Information
Order	Cathartiformes
Family Information
Family	Cathartidae
Sub-family	Cathartinae
Genus Information
Genus	Sarcoramphus
Species Information
Species	S. papa
Population statistics
Population	<50,000 (2008 est.)
Conservation status	Least concern

The king vulture (Sarcoramphus papa) is a bird of prey of the family Cathartidae, and found throughout much of Central and South America. The name was given to it in reference to the dominance of the bird over other vultures carrion feeding sites.

Description

While other New World vultures are predominantly black, the king vulture has taken the opposite approach: it is predominately white, and strikingly colored. The naked head is red at the apex, neck, and around her eyes, with the remainder of the head a dull violet; the strong beak and the neck are orange to yellow. On the cheeks are short grayish feathers, while the lower part of the neck is black. The front is white-gray. The body plumage is white above and below, with the primary and secondary flight feathers and tail black; seen flying from below the white body looks like it's been heavily outlined in black. These vultures are up to 27–32 inches long, have a wing span of about 4–6.6 feet, and weigh between 6–10 pounds.

Habitat and range

King vultures are not very sociable, but live in pairs and sleep at night in small gatherings. During the day they fly for hours without moving their wings while looking for food. They are mainly found in rainforests and savannahs from southern Mexico to Central and South America, as far south as northern Argentina and Uruguay.

Diet

Like other members of Cathartidae king vultures rely on a sense of smell as well as eyesight when looking for food, which consists of carrion. Once they arrive at a carcass, they quickly establish dominance; other vultures previously there are either forced to wait or driven away.

Reproduction

King vultures breed every two years, laying eggs in decayed tree stumps, tree cavities, or rocky ledges, and often as high as 20 to 30 m. Usually the female lays one white-yellowish, red-brown speckled egg, but sometimes up to three are laid. Incubation takes about 55 days, with the fledging of the chick 80-90 days later. Both parents take part in raising the chick, feeding them pre-digested food from the goiter sack. The young will leave the nest after fledging, but often stays with his parents for nearly two years.

Threats

The ICUN lists the king vulture as "least concern" but states the numbers of the bird are decreasing; the cited reason is habitat loss, ostensibly due to forest clearing. In 2008 the population of the birds was believed to be less than 50,000, but more accurate counts cannot be made, due in part to the bird's inhabiting of the upper canopy of the rainforest and its solitary nature.