although vultures are often stereotyped as cunning and menacing, most species of vulture rarely hunt, and clean up carcasses. many of them have learned to follow along roads and visit landfills due to the high amount of carrion. the black vulture is found from the united states to south america. when they do occasionally feed off sources other than dead animals, it is typically small & injured mammals, or bird eggs.
(x)
todays bird is: this black vulture!
some black vultures in their southernmost range hang out with a capybara. thought vultures are stereotyped as aggressive, black vultures are often seen having harmless interactions like this one with other animals.
(x)
a rare albino black vulture that was spotted in texas. albino birds rarely make it to adulthood, due to being easy targets for predators. since black vultures mainly feed off of carrion, it’s life is likely easier than that of an albino bird that hunts for its food, as it isn’t blatantly visible to its prey.
(x)
a black vulture hanging out with and preening a young crested caracara. this type of sighting may seem surprising, but isn’t unusual. though black vultures are a large bird, they are often tolerant of other scavengers sharing food with them, and can even forge friendships like this one.
source: (x)
a florida photographer spotted a black vulture and bald eagle sharing a meal together. while vultures are often sterotyped as dirty scavengers and bald eagles as strong hunters, they both eat carrion, and sometimes bald eagles eat & socialize with vultures.
source: (x)
a photographer captured a wild black vulture preening a northern caracara. while this interaction may seem strange, considering the birds are not in the same family, they are both scavengers and regularly interact over meals of carrion.
source: (x)
today's bird 