King Vulture

Quick Take

• The self-proclaimed 'king' of vultures can't actually find its own food without help, and the pecking order this creates among scavengers turns out to be more counterintuitive than you'd expect. How king vultures find food →
• That bizarre fleshy lump near the king vulture's beak serves a purpose most people would never guess just by looking at it. The beak appendage explained →
• King vultures never build a nest, and their approach to raising chicks is even stranger than that already surprising fact suggests. Their unusual nesting habits →
• Despite their size and dominance, king vultures take an unusually long time to reach adulthood. This extended timeline comes down to one slow-developing trait. Slow plumage development details →

The king vulture is among the largest land-based birds in the world. This bird can be seen soaring far above the lowlands of Central and South America in search of carrion. Its enormous wingspan and broad chest are impressive sights against the backdrop of the sky. Given their size, the name is an accurate description. It truly is the king of the vultures.

4 King Vulture Amazing Facts

• The fleshy orange appendage located near the beak is thought to play a role in the courtship rituals. A larger, brighter appendage may send an important signal about the health of the bird to a potential mate.
• King vultures rely on air currents for flight. They can soar for hours at a time without flapping their wings unless necessary.
• King vultures were an important part of the medicine and folklore of the Mayans.
• Although they look similar to Old World vultures from the Eastern Hemisphere, it’s actually thought that New World vultures evolved independently from them.

Where to Find the King Vulture

The king vulture can be found in lowland forests, savannas, and grasslands throughout southern Mexico, Central America, and down through South America to northern Argentina and northern Uruguay. They do not typically occupy large mountainous regions such as the Andes. The home territorial range of an individual bird is not known, but it is probably quite large.

Nests

King vultures do not build nests at all. Instead, they lay their eggs in the hollow cavities of logs, stumps, and trees with very little nesting material.

Classification and Scientific Name

The scientific name of the king vulture is Sarcoramphus papa. The genus combines two ancient Greek words: sarx, meaning flesh, and rhamphos, meaning crooked beak. This refers to the fleshy skin along the beak. The species name papa is Latin for bishop. This refers to the bird’s interesting black and white plumage. The king vulture is the only surviving member of its genus, but a few more species are known from the fossil record. They are a member of the New World vulture family.

Size, Appearance, and Behavior

The king vulture is among the largest birds of the Americas, measuring some 2.5 feet tall with a wingspan of around 6 to 7 feet. Their broad chest and long wings have white plumage and black tips, giving them the appearance of a bishop’s cloak. Their bare head displays an interesting combination of red, orange, black, and yellow, with a fleshy appendage around the large, hooked beak. They also have silver or white eyes and gray feet. Males and females are almost impossible to distinguish from each other by appearance alone.

King vultures are mostly solitary hunters that stick to small family units and do not form large groups. Although they lack a voice box, they do make low croaking sounds and warning calls, especially when a predator approaches their territory. They spend much of the day sitting atop the canopy or soaring above the ground in search of food. They tend to remain in the same area for almost the entire year and do not migrate at all.

Diet

King vultures are considered to be scavengers. Without a good sense of smell, they mostly use their well-developed vision to find carcasses and feed on them. However, they will often rely on other types of vultures to locate food for them.

What does the king vulture eat?

King vultures feed almost exclusively on carrion. They do not hunt or kill other animals, even when the animals are sick and dying. Their large, sharp beak is nevertheless capable of ripping through tough hide and flesh when the animal has expired. Smaller vultures rely on them to tear up the food.

Predators, Threats, and Conservation Status

The king vulture does not appear to be seriously threatened. The IUCN Red List currently ranks it as a species of least concern. However, habitat loss may have some negative impact on this species, causing populations to decline.

What eats the king vulture?

King vultures are sometimes preyed upon by snakes and big cats such as jaguars. The size of the adult affords it some protection against all but the largest predators. Juveniles are more vulnerable, especially when they wander away from the nesting site.

Reproduction, Young, and Molting

These vultures are thought to be monogamous birds that spend most of their lives with a single partner. Their mating ritual is quite elaborate and involves many loud wheezing and snorting sounds. They will mate with their long-term partner in the dry season and then produce a single egg at a time. After about 50 to 60 days, the baby will hatch with some downy feathers. If the baby is lost early, the parents may replace it with another one within a few weeks.

Since the chick hatches underdeveloped, both parents take turns with incubation duties, feeding, and defense of the young. These vultures have a specialized organ called a crop that allows them to store food before digestion. When they return to the nesting area, they regurgitate the food from their beak into the chick’s mouth. When the chick grows older, the parents will start to place the food on the ground for it to feed on.

There are some basic facts we still don’t understand about their development, but it’s thought that they begin to acquire their adult plumage at around 18 months, a process taking approximately four to five years, with full plumage development continuing for up to seven or eight years. They remain with their parents for most of that time while learning to hunt and fly. The lifespan in captivity is typically up to 30 years, though some individuals have been known to live over 50 years.

Population

The population of these birds is estimated at fewer than 50,000 individuals, with one study suggesting a range of 1,000 to 10,000. However, the numbers do appear to be decreasing throughout most of their range due to human encroachment and interference.