VULTURE

any of numerous large, carrion-eating birds of the order Falconiformes. Although often similar in appearance, the vultures of the New and Old World form separate taxonomic groups, the former comprising a distinct family (Cathartidae), the latter a subfamily (Aegypiinae) of the hawk and eagle family Accipitridae (order Falconiformes). The 20 species have bare heads and large crops. Their feet are big but weak and flat-nailed, adapted to walking and to holding a carcass. In some the beak is exceptionally strong and heavy, for tearing hides and meat. Eyesight is well developed, as is the sense of smell in the turkey vulture. Vultures are widely distributed in temperate and tropical regions but absent from Australia and most oceanic islands. Most vultures have broad food habits, consuming carrion, garbage, and excrement, but rarely live animals. A few occasionally take helpless live prey (as lambs and tortoises). Vultures may remain aloft for hours, soaring gracefully on long, broad wings. When one bird finds a dead or dying animal, others fly in from miles away. Feeding vultures maintain a strict social order, by species, based on body size and strength of beak. They all give way, however, to mammalian competitors (as jackals and hyenas). Vultures inhabit many kinds of terrain, often roosting and nesting in groups on cliffs, in tall trees, or on the ground. They lay one or two (rarely three) eggs and incubate them for seven or eight weeks. The young mature more slowly than other falconiform birds do. Accipitrine, or Old World, vultures have eagle-like feet suitable for grasping. Cathartid, or New World, vultures have no voice, because they lack a syrinx; they have a perforated nasal septum; their feet are weak, with the hind toe slightly elevated and front toes slightly webbed at the base. The family Cathartidae includes, in addition to those listed below, two vultures called condors (see condor).