English             -               King Vulture

Portuguese     -               Urubu-rei

Latin                -                Sarcoramphus papa

The King Vulture is a large bird found in Central and South America. They are a member of the New World vulture family “Cathartidae”. King Vultures were popular figures in the Mayan codices as well as in local folklore and medicine.                 

The most noticeable difference between King Vultures and other vultures is that they are largely covered with white plumage. Their wings are mostly white with black tips. The ruff, flight and tail feathers are grey to black; the black areas have an almost opalescent sheen. Their wingspan can reach up to 198 cm and from head to tail they are about 81 cm long. An adult can weigh up to 4.5 kg. Their bare head, neck and beak are red, orange and yellow, with very striking eyes that are straw, white or silver in colour. Their beaks have a hooked tip and cutting edges, which are very strong. Their feet are grey. There’s no differences between the males and females. When they are young, King Vultures are covered with white downy feathers.        

King Vultures range from Southern Mexico to Southern Argentina, where they prefer to live around savannahs, open regions or lightly forested areas where they are able to have plenty of options for food. For King Vultures, home really comes down to being any place where they can get their food needs met.

Like all Vultures, King Vultures consume carrion. The carrion may have died from natural causes or can be the remains of what predators have killed. The King Vulture is able to consume food that has recently died or that has been left to rot in the heat. They are able to consume it without getting ill. As a result they really do offer a necessary element in the balance of nature. Even though King Vultures dominate other carrion eaters at the feeding site, they rely on other stronger-beaked carrion-eaters to initially rip open the hide of a carcass.They have a thick, strong beak which is well adapted for tearing, and long, thick claws for holding the meat. They have a keen eyesight and sense of smell that they use to find their food.       

A male King Vulture sexually matures when it is about four or five years old, with females maturing slightly earlier.  King Vultures mate for life and mainly breed during the dry season. The nest is usually in hollows of rotting logs, stumps or crevices in trees. To ward off potential predators, King Vultures keep their nests foul-smelling. The female generally lays a single unmarked white egg per season. Both parents incubate the egg for up to 58 days before hatching. If the egg is lost, it will often be replaced within six weeks. The parents share incubating and brooding duties until the chick is about a week old, after which they often stand guard rather than brood. The nestling is semi-altricial, it is helpless when born but is covered in downy feathers, Its eyes are open at birth. The nestling is feed regurgitate food. It’s fed directly from the parent’s beak, but as it get older, the parents regurgitate the food onto the ground for it to eat. The nestling develops quickly and is fully alert by its second day and is able to beg and wriggle around the nest and by the third day is able to  preen it selves and peck. The nestling start to grow its second coat of white down after 10 day and stand on its toes by day 20. From one to three months of age, the nestling can walk around and explore the vicinity of the nest, and take its first flight at about three months of age. It remains dependent on its parents for eight months and may stay close for another two years. When it is three to four years old, it has developed all of its feathers, plumage, and features.

The role of the King Vulture (like other vultures) is very important. By disposing of rotting and decomposing remains, it help prevent the spread of disease in its environment. Although currently listed as a species “of least concern” by the IUCN, King Vultures are decreasing in numbers, due primarily to habitat loss and the capture of live birds, sold to zoological gardens around the world. It is not significant enough to cause a change in it’s current listing on the IUCN. (Yet)             

Photos of the King Vulture were taken at Parque das Aves - Foz do Iguacu - Parana.