Black Vulture

Welcome to this week’s Wildlife of the Week!

Coragyps atratus Black Vulture

Our Halloween Wildlife of the Week is the Black Vulture. These large birds, with up to five foot wingspan, are carrion eaters, although they will opportunistically feed on injured or sick animals. Black vultures can be found throughout the southeastern United States and into South America. Although fairly common, they are not as common as our other vulture, the turkey vulture.

They have black plumage, a featherless, grayish-black head and neck, and a short, hooked beak. These features are all evolutionary adaptations to life as a scavenger; their black plumage stays visibly cleaner than that of a lighter-colored bird, the bare head is designed for easily digging inside animal carcasses, and the hooked beak is built for stripping the bodies clean of meat.

They can often be spotted soaring high overhead, occasionally flapping their wings while gliding and searching for food. Their sense of smell is not as acute as turkey vultures so they soar high in the sky and keep an eye on the lower-soaring turkey vultures. When a turkey vulture’s nose detects the stench of decaying flesh and descends on a carcass, the black vulture follows close behind.

They like to gather in large groups and can be seen perching in groups on dead trees or electrical towers. They are largely silent, vocalizations consisting of grunts and hisses.

Breeding season in Alabama begins as early as January. Pairs are formed following a courtship ritual which is performed on the ground: several males circle a female with their wings partially open as they strut and bob their heads. Eggs are laid on the ground in wooded areas and they will have 1-3 eggs.

Disgusting fact: The black vulture often defecates on its legs, using the evaporation of the water in the feces and urine to cool itself, a process known as urohidrosis. It cools the blood vessels in the unfeathered tarsi and feet, and causes white uric acid to streak the legs.

Keep an eye overhead while you're on the refuge, chances of spotting a soaring black vulture are good. (Photo by Tom Ress)

In twilight's hush, they circle high,
With shadows cast from a blood-red sky.
Silent wings on the whispering breeze,
Dancing like phantoms among the trees.

Their eyes, like embers, gleam in the night,
A haunting promise of a chilling fright.
Gathered together on the skeletal bough,
Watchers of secrets, the here and the now.

When dusk descends and the silence grows near,
They claim the fallen, a putrid roadkill deer.
Omen of endings, with a ravenous yawn,
Black vultures gather—foreboding at dawn.

"The Vulture's Feast" by USFWS social media nerds