This colophon was written by Clairemarie Fisher O'Leary. A vulture is featured on the cover of Windows NT File System Internals . Both families are closely related to eagles and hawks, but, unlike their relatives, vultures are carrion eaters, not hunters. A vulture will rarely kill for food. Instead, they sit by and wait for another animal to die before starting to dine.
Vultures often live in open country where herds of large mammals, such as cattle, can be found.
They fly in slow circles, searching the ground for dead, sick, or injured animals. They also watch for running packs of jackals or hyenas, who often lead them to food. When food has been spotted, the vulture swoops down to the ground, and other circling vultures follow. Both Old World and New World vultures have heads and necks that are almost bare, covered only by a thin layer of down. Many vultures have a thick ruff of feathers around their neck.