Amazing facts about vulture:-
- There are 23 species of “vultures”.
- These unusual birds are divided into two groups: New World vultures, which are from North, Central, and South America; and Old World vultures, which live in Africa, Asia, and Europe.
- There are 7 species of New World vultures include Andean condors, California condors, and the 16 Old World species include the lammergeier and griffons.
Griffon
California condors
- Old World and New World vultures are actually not closely related. However, as a result of each team perform extremely specialized functions, they have developed similar biological traits.
- Old World vultures do not have a good sense of smell – they rely exclusively on incredible eyesight to locate food – a soaring vulture can spot a 3-foot animal carcass from 4 miles away.
- Several species of New World vultures have a good sense of smell, unusual for raptors.
- The Rueppell’s griffon vulture is the world’s highest flying bird. One collided with a plane of the Ivory Coast in 1973; at the time, the plane was flying at 37,000 feet.
- Vultures can eat up to 20 percent of their own body weight in one sitting.
- Vultures are equipped with a digestive system that contains special acids that will dissolve anthrax, botulism, and cholera bacteria.
- Vultures do not go after healthy prey but will attack wounded and dying animals.
- New World vultures have the unusual habit of urohydrosis — defecating on their legs to cool them by evaporation.
- The bald, or lightly-feathered, the head is specially designed to stay clean even when confronted with blood and bodily fluids present in the carcasses. Any remaining germs are baked off by the sun.
- A group of vultures is called a venue, and when circling the air, a group of vultures is called a kettle.
- By consuming the carcasses of diseased animals, vultures prevent the spread of life-threatening diseases such as rabies and anthrax among animals and humans.
- The vomit of a vulture, followed by the action of flying away, is the most common defensive tactic against an adversary. If the food is comparatively undigested, the predator is rewarded with a free meal. If the food is generally digestible, the malodorous substance acts as a deterrent and can sting the eyes of a predator if it lands in their face.
- Most vultures are social and several species can often be seen feeding together on the same carcass.
- Egyptian vultures use rocks to break open ostrich eggs.
