### animal | vertebrate | bird | raptor:

Vulture
* All vultures are large birds with a naked head and hooked bill
  - play a valuable role in nature as scavengers
* Many vultures are also bald, meaning they have no feathers on their head.
* Many vultures have a bald head , with no feathers
  - thick ruff of feathers around their neck
* Most vultures catch live prey.
* Most vultures eat berries
  - flesh
  - meat
* Most vultures feed on animals
  - dead animals
  - has-part glands
* Most vultures have broad wings
  - dark plumage and small, naked heads
  - feet
  - few natural predators
  - large ranges
  - necks
  - senses
  - occupy habitats
  - rely on eyesights
  - seek prey
  - use scent
* Some vultures become birds
  - breeders
  - break bones
  - conserve energy
  - eat animals
* Some vultures eat dead animals
  - lambs
  - nuts
  - palm nuts
  - small animals
  - even eat animal and human wastes
  - feed on palms
* Some vultures have acid
  - calls
  - pouches
  - powerful beaks
  - stomach acid
  - throat pouches
* Some vultures kill animals
  - livestock
  - other animals
  - locate their food using an acute sense of smell, others use keen eyesight
  - look like eagles
* Some vultures prey on newborn sheep
* Some vultures provide ecosystem services
  - important ecosystem services
  - watch animals
* appear when something is going to die.
* are a symbol of heaven and earth, spirit and matter, good and evil
  - type of bird called a scavenger
* are also important in India, as they help remove dead animals without spreading disease
  - well adapted for soaring flight having large, broad wings
  - amazing birds, but they are often misunderstood
  - animals that tend to be shunned by humans, as they eat thoroughly dead animals
  - apex species, scavengers that feed on carcasses
  - birds of prey
  - carnivores and scavengers and feed mainly on carrion of freshly killed animals
  - carnivorous and eat carrion almost exclusively
  - carrion eaters
  - commonly, but incorrectly, referred to as buzzards
  - flesh-eating fowl
  - found on all continents except Australia and Antarctica
  - just like other birds - they have to adapt to humans
  - known to eat animals that die of natural causes as well as road kill
* are large birds of prey closely related to hawks and eagles
  - compared to other birds
  - medium to large sized Raptors or birds of prey
  - nature's clean-up crew, with a very special function as purifiers
  - of great value as scavengers, especially in hot regions
  - perhaps one of the most misunderstood birds in Florida
  - primarily scavengers, feeding on dead animals
  - probably present, and a pool of body fluids is still moist on the ground
  - raptors
* are scavengers that feed on dead animals, but contrary to myth, they prefer fresh food
  - mainly feed on carrion - the flesh of dead animals
  - social animals
  - the first to see a dead animal most of the time
  - valuable for the removal of garbage and disease causing carrion
  - very important animals because they are like garbage disposals
  - voiceless and can utter only weak hissing sounds
* change many times during the season.
* common name for two groups of carrion-eating birds.
* consume animals.
* descend from the heavens and carry their loved ones away.
* do a ritual every morning that entails spreading their wings and standing in the sun.
  - dead things
  - mainly dead or dying animals
* face many threats that are endangering their populations.
* feed mainly on carrion and as a result, have weaker feet used to hold their meal.
  - carrion, which is rotting flesh
* find food.
* fix their broad wings in a shallow V called a dihedral.
* flap by on slow patient wings
* have a fascinating evolutionary history
  - unique way of cooling themselves in the African heat by urinating
  - ability
  - bald heads
  - interesting adaptations for digging into their diet of carrion
* have large olfactory lobes and are good at soaring to cover long distances
  - large, powerful wings that they use to soar through the sky
  - muscular legs, sharp talons and sharp bills
  - quality
  - relatively weak legs and feet with blunt talons , though they do have powerful bills
* have the ability to see and use thermal currents for flight
  - same ancestor as storks
  - very keen eye-sight and also an excellent sense of smell, which is rare in birds
* help keep streets clean.
* includes air sacs
  - bird's feet
  - brains
  - breasts
  - cell membranes
  - cells
  - chest cavities
  - chests
  - corpi
  - cytoplasm
  - ears
  - faces
  - flight feathers
  - lips
  - mouths
  - nuclei
  - plasma membranes
  - quill feathers
  - rib cages
  - second joints
  - sections
  - skulls
  - sterna
  - vacuoles
  - wishbones
* ingest the poison upon eating a deceased animal's carcass.
* inhabit mountainous regions of Southern Europe, Asia, and Africa.
* is actually the collective name given to the group of scavengers.
* lack the powerful feet that are characteristic of other raptors like eagles and hawks.
* look for dark secluded spots or places like cavities of an old or dead tree.
* occasionally peck at plastics, vinyls and other materials.
* often live in open country where herds of large mammals, such as cattle, can be found
  - raise their chicks here, too
* play a prominent role in African folklore.
* practice lifelong monogamy and are observed in pairs.
* primarily feed on carrion, mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, amphibians, and invertebrates.
* quickly remove carcasses from the landscape before they rot and turn foul-smelling.
* s only eat the bodies of dead animals.
* serve a useful purpose as flying garbage disposals.
* soar for hours on end, looking for dead animals to feed on
  - off the high cliffs, which are also home to rock thrushes and crag martins
  - overhead or roost in the tall trees
* spend each day soaring in vast circles, constantly watching the ground for a meal
  - much of their time in the sun or preening their wings
* symbolize death in literature.
* tend to gorge themselves, often to the point of being unable to fly
  - have just one mate per year
* try to attract a mate by soaring in the sky around each other.
* typically have red beaks and white feet related to urea deposits.
* urinate on their legs and feet to cool off on hot days, a process called urohydrosis
  - to cool down body temperature
* use current
  - their large wings to soar in the air for many miles without having to flap
* usually have one mate a year.
+ Old World vulture
  * Both Old World and New World vultures are scavenging birds. They feed mostly from carcasses of dead animals. Old World vultures find carcasses only by sight. Many vultures have a bald head, with no feathers. Because of how a vulture eats their head is spattered with blood and other fluids. They are able to keep clean by not having feathers on their head.
  * Vultures use their large wings to soar in the air for many miles without having to flap. Vultures are also called buzzards.
  * New World vultures' are related to storks and use their sense of smell to find their food. Vultures symbolize death in literature.