Vultures are pretty flexible when it comes to their habitat as long as there is food, although you won’t find them in Australia, the polar regions, or most small islands. They are pretty adaptable to different environments. These birds can spend a good part of their day soaring around while looking for food. If they hit a warm pocket of air in the sky, called a wind thermal, some vultures have the ability to soar for hours without once flapping their wings!

Vultures are scavengers. They usually eat carrion, although sometimes they attack newborn or wounded animals. Vultures tend to look at any meal as a Thanksgiving meal, so they eat as much as they can, because they never know when they will find their next meal—and it could be as long as two weeks before they do! Like many other birds, vultures have a throat pouch called a crop that can store food for eating at a later time or can be regurgitated to feed to their young.

Different vulture species have their own flair for getting their food, and their ability to use “tools” to get that food is unique among birds. The Egyptian vulture breaks open ostrich eggs by dropping stones on them. Lammergeiers, also known as bearded vultures, carry bones up into the air and drop them onto favored rocky areas to break them open; the birds then fly down to eat the nutritional marrow inside.

In Africa, many different types of vultures gather at a carcass to eat, but there is a pecking order: larger vultures get to eat first while the smaller ones wait their turn. Generally, though, vultures cruise the sky in flocks to look for dead animals; once one vulture lands, many more land and join in the feast.

Vultures try to attract a mate by soaring in the sky around each other. The male shows off his flying skills by almost touching the female’s wing tip as he flies by to impress her. Normally, vultures are social birds that hunt in flocks, but when it comes to starting a family, they pair for life. The female makes her nest and lays her egg(s): one egg, typically, for larger species, two eggs for smaller vulture species. Both parents work as a team to incubate and feed the chicks.

Of course, baby chicks don’t drink milk; instead, the parent regurgitates meat into the chick’s mouth to feed it. Vulture chicks learn to fly when they are three to six months old.

Turkey vultures are found all over North and South America. They are about 27 inches (70 centimeters) tall and have a wingspan of about 5.6 feet (1.7 meters). Turkey vultures are found in open country, woodlands, farms, and in our backyard at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park! These vultures have a big, dark brown body, a red, bald head, and pink legs and feet. They hunt for their food by smell, feast in groups, and prefer only the tender meat. Turkey vultures are a very important part of North America’s cleanup crew.

Many people look at the vulture as a sign of death, but some cultures admire the birds. Ancient Egyptians connected the Griffon vulture to their goddess Nekhbet for guarding mothers and children. Griffon vulture images are found in early Egyptian paintings and drawings and even had a place on the crown of the pharaoh, alongside the cobra. In Native American culture, California condors are important in mythology and burial rituals. Vultures are also important in India, because they help remove dead animals without spreading disease. Vultures may not have the cleanest job, but you will never hear them complaining!