Which bird is the second heaviest flying bird and the heaviest bird of prey?
The heaviest flying bird is the Somali Kori Bustard (Ardeotis kori struthiunculus), native to Africa, weighing about 14-18 kilograms (31-40 pounds). What is the second heaviest bird?
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What is urohydrosis?
Urohydrosis is the act of some birds defecating on the scaly part of their own legs.
Why do birds poop on their own legs?
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What is the difference between the Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus percnopterus) and the Palm-Nut Vulture (Gypohierax angolensis)?
Both the Egyptian Vulture and the Palm-Nut Vulture are large raptors and birds of prey with large, strong beaks and feet with sharp claws called talons.
The Egyptian Vulture is all white with long neck feathers, whereas the Palm-Nut Vulture is all white except for black areas in its wings and tail.
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The Palm-Nut Vulture (Gypohierax angolensis) is a bird of prey, a raptor, and an accipiter. It is also known as the Vulturine Fish Eagle. It is related to the buzzard and the eagle.
The adult Palm-Nut Vulture is all white except for black areas in its wings and tail. It has a red patch around each eye.
Continue reading “Palm-Nut Vulture Juvenile”
What is a group of vultures called?
A group of vultures is called a kettle of vultures (if they are flying), or a venue of vultures.
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The Himalayan Griffon (Gyps himalayensis) is a large bird of prey, a raptor, and an accipiter. It is a vulture. It is also known as the Himalayan Griffon Vulture. It is related to the Eurasian Griffon (Gyps fulvus).
The Himalayan Griffon has a long, spiky, pale-brown ruff around its neck with white streaks. Its head has pale blue skin, covered with soft, yellowish down feathers. Its underside and underwings are pale-brown or buff-coloured. Its legs are feathered, and its feet can be greenish-grey to white. Its upperbody is pale and unstreaked with contrasting dark-brown wings. It has a grey, hooked beak, and small, orange-brown eyes.
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The Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is a large bird of prey, an accipiter, and a raptor. It is closely related to the Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus).
The Bearded Vulture is dark-grey, rusty, and white. It is grey-blue to grey-black along its back with a cream-coloured forehead and orange-rust feathers on its head, chest, and legs. Its tail and wings are grey. It has black bands across its eyes. It has chin bristles that look like a beard. It has a small, feathered head with a powerful neck, long narrow wings, and a long, wedge-shaped tail. It has sharp talons (claws). When it walks, its gait appears like a waddling duck. It has bright red eye-rings.
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The Palm-Nut Vulture (Gypohierax angolensis) is a bird of prey, a raptor, and an accipiter. It is also known as the Vulturine Fish Eagle. It is related to the buzzard and the eagle.
The adult Palm-Nut Vulture is all white except for black areas in its wings and tail. It has a red patch around each eye.
Continue reading “Palm-Nut Vulture Chick”
Why do some vultures have a featherless neck – or almost featherless neck?
A vulture’s head and neck are featherless as an adaptation for hygiene.
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The Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus) is a large bird of prey, a raptor, and an accipiter in the Accipitridae family. It is also known as the Eurasian Griffon Vulture. It is related to the White-Backed Vulture (Gyps africanus).
The Griffion Vulture has a white head and a white neck with ruff feathers. It has broad dark wings and short tail feathers. It has a whitish beak.
The Palm-Nut Vulture (Gypohierax angolensis) is a bird of prey, a raptor, and an accipiter. It is also known as the Vulturine Fish Eagle. It is related to the buzzard and the eagle.
The Palm-Nut Vulture is all white except for black areas in its wings and tail. It has a red patch around each eye. Its eyes are yellow and its beak is pale-grey.
The Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus percnopterus) is a large bird of prey, and a raptor. It is also called the White Scavenger Vulture or the Pharaoh’s Chicken.
The Egyptian Vulture is white with long neck feathers that form a hackle (raised feathers). Its wings are pointed and its tail is wedge-shaped. It has a yellow face without feathers, a long beak with a long, horizontal nostril, a dark grey-tipped hooked beak, and dark eyes. Its legs are pink with long, straight, sharp talons. Its third and fourth toes are slightly webbed.
The Red-Headed Vulture (Sarcogyps calvus) is a medium-sized bird of prey. It is also known as the Asian King Vulture or the Pondicherry Vulture.
The Red-Headed Vulture has a black-feathered body with a red featherless head. It has pale-grey bands at the base of its flight feathers. The male has whitish eyes, whereas the female has dark-brown eyes. It has pink legs and feet with large talons (claws).
The Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus) is a large South American bird in the Vulture family. It is a raptor and bird of prey.
The Andean Condor is black with a white ruff (collar) around its neck. Its face and neck are pinkish-red and nearly bald. Females have a bald blackish-red head and neck. It has a flattened head. Males have a dark carbuncle or comb on their head. It has white feathers on its wings. Its pale cream beak is strong with a slightly downward-curved hook, and its eyes are orange-brown. It has long sharp talons on its feet to grip its prey.
What is a scavenger?
Scavengers are animals that feed on the meat of dead animals (carrion). Many carnivores are scavengers. Scavengers are also predators.
Scavengers include vultures, hyenas, and jackals.
The Rüppell’s Griffon Vulture (Gyps rueppelli) is a large critically endangered vulture from Africa. They are related to the White-Backed Vulture.
The Rüppell’s Griffon Vulture has mottled brown or black feathers with a whitish-brown underbelly and thin, cream-white fluff covering its head and neck. The base of its neck has a white collar. Its eyes are dark or amber, and its crop patch is deep brown. Its head does not have feathers. It has sharp talons and a powerful dark black.
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The African White-Backed Vulture (Gyps africanus) is an African bird of prey. It is a raptor, an accipiter, related to eagles, kites, buzzards, griffons, and hawks.
The African White-Backed Vulture has dark-brown feathers, except for lighter white and brown back feathers, and a white neck ruff (collar). Its head and neck are bare, with just a few downy-soft feathers. It has a grey-black beak and dark eyes. It has very large wings and short tail feathers.
The Lappet-Faced Vulture (Torgos torgos tracheliotus) is a massive African vulture. It is also called the Nubian Vulture. It is a raptor and accipiter (like hawks, eagles, kites, and buzzards).
The Lappet-Faced Vulture is black-brown with white streaked underparts. Its head and its back of head are bare, with no feathers, and are bright pink and wrinkled. The wrinkles are called fleshy lappets. It has a large ivory or brown beak, with a grey cere. It has dark-brown eyes. Its legs and feet are blue-grey with white thigh feathers called boots.
The Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus) is a large bird, called a raptor or accipiter. It is also called the Eurasian Black Vulture because it is native to Eurasia. It should not be confused with the American Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus), which is a different species. The Cinereous Vulture is related to the Lappet-Faced Vulture.
The Cinereous Vulture is brown with some black feathers and white patches. It has a bald, blue-grey head and a ruff of white feathers around its neck. There is a white patch above its brown eyes. It has a blue-grey beak with a purplish cere. Its beak is the largest beak of all raptors. It has pale blue-grey legs.
It is almost 1.2 metres long (4 feet), with a wingspan of 3.1 metres (10 feet). It is one of the world’s heaviest flying birds, but it can fly at a very high altitude.
The Vulturine Guineafowl (Acryllium vulturinum) from northeast Africa is the largest species of guineafowl, measuring 61-71 centimetres (24-28 inches) tall.
The Vulturine Guineafowl has a round body and small head, with a bare blue face and black neck, which makes it looks like a vulture. It has a cape of long, glossy, blue and white hackles. Its chest is bright blue, and the rest of the body’s feathers are black, finely speckled with white. The wings are short and rounded.