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are also called New World Vultures and comprise the
family Cathartidae and belong to the order of Ciconiiformes
although some put them with the Falconiformes. In flight they resemble
eagles and hawks but recent genetic studies relates them closer to
storks and herons. Therefore they are also not related to the Old World
Vultures but both being carrion eaters developed similar traits. Worldwide exist seven species in five genera which
are found only in temperate and tropical America and five species of
them can be encountered
in Ecuador, namely the Andean
Condor, King Vulture, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture and Greater Yellow-headed Vulture. |
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The
majestic
King Vulture is arguably the most spectacular of the American
vultures. Its body is covered by the
most part of white plumage and they have a bright multi-colored
naked face and upper neck. King Vultures got
their royal name from the fact that once
they arrive at a carcass,
other vultures step
aside and let the king have its meal first.
They are found in the lower
tropical forests on both sides of
the Andes but
are threatened because
of habitat destruction and capture of birds to
be sold to zoos. They are now very
rare on the west coast and are in sufficient numbers only in
the more remote areas of the Amazon
and where it is most often seen soaring over the forest. |
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King Vulture (Baños
Zoo) |
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American Vultures feed almost
entirely on carrion (although black and condor
were seen feeding on new-born animals) and have therefore naked heads
and necks preventing soiling of the feathers. The naked head might
also help regulate body temperatures. Their beaks are strong and
adapted to tear meat from the carcasses and feeding mostly on ground
they have feet adapted to walking but they lack the claws of
eagles of grabbing prey. They feed on the spot and carry food to their
young in their crops regurgitating it at the nest site. The search for dead carcasses is
mostly by sight but in the case of the Turkey Vulture and
probably Great
Yellow-headed
Vulture also by smell, a rare trait among birds. Soaring over
dense forests where sighting of food is not possible, this is very
useful. The larger King and Black Vultures, who lack smell, often watch those
species and follow them to the feeding sites, pushing the smaller
vultures aside there. Sexes are
alike with the exception of the Andean condors. |
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The Turkey Vulture (left, taken at Pacific beach in Jambeli) is very numerous along the western coast.
It is the smallest vulture and easily recognized by its reddish head.
The large nostrils is an indication of its keen sense of smell.
The Greater Yellow-headed Vulture (right, photographed at Pañacocha), sometimes also called
Forest Vulture, is only found in the eastern Amazon below
1000m where it can be seen soaring over the rainforest. |
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Vultures can be observed roosting in trees and spreading their wings.
That is to dry them off from rain or dew and to realign feathers.
The New World Vultures use thermals or hot air currents to circle up to
heights of several hundred meters. Once up in that altitude the vultures
continue soaring for hours and long distances scanning the ground below
for carcasses to feed on. A habit of them and which they have in common
with storks is that they defecate on their
legs, which appear sometimes whitish with feces,
which is
thought to help with cooling of the body by means of evaporation. |
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Both pictures taken in Puerto Misahualli, small town in the Amazon
region. |
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The
Black Vulture is one bird which benefits of the human
presence, being very numerous on both sides of
the Andes and reaching up into the higher Andean valleys. They can
be often observed feeding around landfill sites and can become quite tame around towns
roosting in nearby trees. |
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The New World Vultures are monogamous and
solitary nesters using caves, crevices in rock cliffs and hollow trees
and may use the same site year after year. They do not build stick nests
like the Old World Vultures. They reach sexual
maturity at the age of six or seven and the female
bird lays 1- 4 eggs with the exception of the
condor and king vulture, where the female only lays 1 egg. The
altricial chicks stay
for a relatively long time with its parents
and both male and female care alternatively for their young. |
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ECUADORIAN SPECIES : |
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Name |
Scientific |
Location |
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Andean Condor |
Vultur
gryphus |
Andes (paramo) 3000m - 4000m |
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King Vulture |
Sarcoramphus
papa |
Amazon & Coast (forest) below 500m |
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Black Vulture |
Coragyps atratus |
Amazon, Coast & Andes below 2800m |
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Greater Yellow-headed Vulture |
Cathartes aura |
Amazon (forest) below 1000m |
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Turkey Vulture |
Carthartes melambrotus |
Amazon & Coast below 2000m |
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Birding Vocabulary |
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Altricial: term for a helpless chick
at hatching. It is naked with closed eyes and unable to leave
the nest, depending on the parents for getting fed and general
survival. |
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Precocial: in contrast is a chick
being quite independent from birth without needing much help
from its parents. It is already heavy downed and becomes quickly
mobile. |
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