King Vulture

Sarcoramphus papa

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The king vulture is the most colourful of the American vultures: a cream-white body with black flight feathers, and a bare head combining orange, purple, blue and red, crowned by a fleshy orange wattle above the bill. It dominates any carcass over the black vultures and the turkey vultures: its more powerful bill opens hides that they cannot pierce, and hence its name of king.

Weight

3 kg – 4.5 kg

Size

67 cm – 81 cm

Lifespan

30 years

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

SavannaRainforestCarnivore Diurnal Solitary Bird Savanna Rainforest

18countries 5parks4same family

Fun facts

comportamientoIts head and neck are vividly coloured, and it is usually first onto a large carcass because it can tear through hide that smaller vultures cannot.
Its name comes from its rule over the carcass: the smaller vultures wait for it to arrive and open the hide, because its bill is the only one able to break it, and then withdraw while it eats.
Unlike the turkey vulture, which locates carrion by smell, this bird has almost no sense of smell: studies suggest it follows the turkey vultures to the carcass and then displaces them.
In the Maya codices it is depicted with its colourful head and is linked to a god who acted as a messenger between humans and the deities.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
Habitat & environment: Lowland rainforest, wooded savannah and gallery forest of tropical America
Sexual maturity: 4 years
Gestation / incubation: 57 days
Litter / clutch size: 1 egg

Sources consulted: https://www.iucnredlist.org/ | https://animaldiversity.org/ | https://es.wikipedia.org/