In the cities of Ancient Egypt and India, vultures were considered sacred birds. But at the present time, for many, they cause only a sense of disgust. Our article will talk about how these birds live in their natural environment. Description of the vulture and his photo will be interesting to all lovers of wildlife.
The appearance of the bird
Vulture is a bird that belongs to the vulture family. In size, it is significantly inferior to its relatives. Adult individuals weigh no more than 2 kg, and the body length does not exceed 50 cm. The vulture's weapon is a thin, hook-shaped beak that fits perfectly to a small body.
Only one similarity makes vultures and vultures similar - plumage. An ordinary vulture differs from a brown body completely covered with feathers. On the trunk of a brown representative of the family, the feathers are the same as those of the other vultures. Only the head and neck remain bald. Brown and ordinary vultures are distinguished by the color of their skin and feathers. The brown vulture has brown feathers and gray skin. The common vulture is distinguished by yellow-orange skin and light gray feathers.
The female and the male are almost the same, except for a slight difference in weight in favor of the female.
Lifestyle
Vulture is a social bird. Flocks are often formed for joint hunting and collective recreation. Communication in the flock is supported by various sounds: if everything is fine, something similar to meowing or croaking sounds; and when danger is near - growl and hiss.
Vultures feed on carrion. But they prefer to eat the corpses of small animals and birds. This is due to the weak beak of the bird, unable to overpower the larger skin of animals larger. The crumbs left by other birds of prey and animals after the meal are also selected. Ordinary vultures also feed on the feces of mammals. Their litter contains substances that color the skin in a bright orange color.
Another effective weapon of a vulture is an extraordinary ingenuity. They use it in the hunt for ostrich eggs. Since ostriches carefully guard their nests, this is not easy. Vultures wait for the moment when they go to forage, and penetrate the nest. The light weight of the bird does not allow you to take food with you, so the meal takes place on the spot. A sharp beak can not always crack the shell of an egg. The vulture goes on a trick: he takes a pebble with his beak and hits them on the shell. If you can’t break the egg in this way, then there is one more move in stock: take a larger stone in your paws and simply drop it aimingly from the height onto the egg.
Vultures are well adapted to life in an urban environment. There they find their food in urban landfills.
Vultures, like most birds, breed in spring. After mating, the female lays no more than two eggs. Both individuals have been hatching eggs for 42 days. Cubs are not born at the same time. The one who hatched first has a greater chance of surviving than the later one. The latter is likely to starve to death. After 3 months, the chick can fly, but the parents feed the baby for another month.
Reach puberty at the age of 5 years. Despite the fact that the vulture is a predator, it still has enemies. Adults cannot protect their cubs from the claws and beaks of other birds of prey. And if the chick fell out of the nest, it becomes a tidbit for the wolf or fox.
Habitat
A vulture is a bird that has a permanent nesting site. The brown vulture mainly settles in the center and in the south of Africa. An ordinary vulture is more common. He selects habitats throughout Africa, India and the Caucasus. There were meetings with the bird in the Crimea. But individuals that settle in Europe, with the onset of cold weather fly to Africa.
Nowadays, both species are threatened with extinction and are listed in the Red Book. They often encounter high-voltage power lines, are etched with lead shot, which was in the body of the killed animal. They also do not have immunity to harmful substances that enter the body through food.