El vulture It is a raptor that is found in America, Africa, Asia, India, Europe and other parts of the world, they are known for locating their prey from the sky, waiting for them to die and eating them with their strong and resistant beaks. In this post you will learn a little more about their reproduction, feeding, among other things.
Vultures
The vulture is a very large and heavy bird, this bird is a bird of prey, with a massive beak, disproportionate and a butcher; Its long naked neck is covered in tiny white feathers that give it a unique appearance, it can be differentiated and noticed that at its base it has a thick and remarkable necklace of fine feathers through this animal.
One of the main types of vultures is the griffon vulture, so nicknamed in several countries, from the scavenger birds This one has that name because of the different and varied lion brown tones that are found throughout its body. A distinctive feature of its characteristics is that you have two small bald spots on your chest, these reveal the rosy skin of the animal and the intensity of its mood.
Features
These, in addition to their attractive plumage, have enormous claws, over time they have lost the prehensile capacity of true birds of prey, these claws have two long and thin edges in the little worked nails, but as long as this is so, it could indicate that the vulture does not he earns his living by hunting. The most cumbersome individuals usually measure between 120 centimeters along with a wingspan that exceeds 2 and a half meters, and a weight of almost 11 kilograms at a minimum.
These animals, just by their songs, it is easy to differentiate those that are adults from those that have been growing. The former show a more worn overall color and with the passage of time it stains its entire edge and beak bone-colored.
In this advanced phase, the iris of the eye appears marine in color while, on the other hand, those that are younger tend to present stronger color contrasts, such as in their plumage, which is a beautiful light brown, and in this phase the beak is still He is black and has dark eyes. Some experts say slight differences in the size and shapes of the skull.
The visual clues that could help distinguish males from females is the so-called sexual dimorphism, which in this case is somewhat difficult to decipher, it is easier to recognize when they are in full flight, because their silhouette when they are in the air is seen with large wings of rounded edges finished in feathers and separated in a way that offers the most popular view of the species.
It is then that the feathers of the wings and those of the short fan-shaped tail are completely black, white lines are common and the rest of the plumage is intense brown in the youngest and dark in the young. Adults.
These animals do not flap their wings of any kind, since it seems that they comfortably let themselves go and that is the way it is, the first rays of the sun heat certain masses of air that, due to differences in temperature and pressure, form the well-known ascending thermal currents, a natural resource that has known to exploit these birds.
The advantages of this flight system are evident, these heavy birds progress in the sky with minimal energy expenditure and if weather conditions allow it, they make long journeys in search of food, thus being able to separate themselves from their nests at more than 100 kilometres. The various currents are used depending on the needs of the moment, some are basically used to gain height.
The morning wind is a natural resource and truly practical and common in the mountains. The air currents that collide in the valleys are also used and although the most common path of movement is carried out by alternating phases of spiral lift followed by long horizontal routes in which they slowly lose height, but How do they locate these air currents and achieve such a high distance in the sky?
It has been verified that some vultures prospect the terrain above 3.000 meters of altitude and also that they have a very precise sight, they almost always achieve it through the developed technical sight. Sight is extremely important for all vultures, among them this is a golden rule since for teamwork the most important thing is not to lose sight of each other, therefore, all the individuals in the group will try to locate the nearest neighbor.
In other words, they weave a network of interconnected vultures and if the day is right, it will be a matter of time before someone finds what they all yearn for. Vultures are known to maintain themselves by the presence of other birds, surrounding the leader of the pack to locate food. The first to hunt are almost always the horned, ravens, etc.
Another strange and curious natural characteristic is that before eating the hunted meat, it almost always causes a striking dance around the meat. They show pecks, pushes, and scratches when hunting and mark the rules imposed by hunger, which are to open their wings widely to increase their size and thus threaten, advance and stretch their necks, or show their weak claws frontally as a sign of threat.
These are all easily understandable intimidating strategies and gestures. The important thing for the vultures is to show off and be respected, and if this does not work it is lethal for them since the most dominant animals do not hesitate to attack them directly. In the middle of a fight, the saliva production of these animals is abysmal, all this as a reflection of the incredible digestive adaptation of these predators.
Its complex gastric juices work as a natural drug against the lethal diseases of the environment. In addition to that, it can be considered that vultures play a fundamental role in maintaining the health status of our fields and even the world, the ecosystem.
The vulture has shown itself to be closely dependent on human livestock herds and, once the black years of bovine and swine epidemics have been overcome, the situation for vultures is once again dazzlingly stable, although the continuous threat of the enemies of these birds can cause several victims to fall and make them part of your exclusive feeding system.
Types of Vultures
When saying vultures, reference is made to two Types of birds that really do not have a great relationship with each other, these groups can be called those of the old world and those of the new world, in each of them there are a series of considerable differences:
- Old World Vultures: These would be those vultures that belong to the family Accipitridae where eagles and goshawks are also included, generally these species are found in the African, Asian and European continents.
- New World Vultures: This second group includes the so-called American vultures, which also includes condors. In fact, American vultures are not really related to Old World vultures. They are so called because they mostly live in America.
Food
The ecological pyramids are a practical way of understanding the complex life cycle of these, that of eating and not being eaten. Predators and super predators live an existence based on chasing, hunting and killing other animals since they feed on them.
The energy in this case is transmitted fundamentally through the ingestion of meat, the ghouls or scavenger birds They crown the top of the trophic pyramid, these experienced corpse-eaters fulfill an important health function in nature, thus ridding it of infectious sources and garbage that what they do is contaminate the planet.
Reproduction
In Spain, the colony that supports the largest number of individuals of this species has more than 680 pairs registered so far and their lives are deeply marked by the reproductive period. The zeal, nesting and rearing of the chicks suppose a full dedication of almost nine continuous months in which not only the females are in charge of taking care of the eggs, but also the males have work.
At the beginning of December, the adults are restless and the synchronized flight is one of the specialties of the vulture in terms of courtship, since sometimes the male and female touch each other in mid-flight. One of the bird characteristics that only some species have, is that the pairs of vultures are faithful for life and the lovers culminate their acrobatic games with repeated domes on the rock.
The way in which these animals choose their stay is on those same dates in December when they prepare the nest, although in this sense they are not excellent builders, but they do dedicate time to the appropriate location of the nest, always avoiding north orientation and looking for where possible roofed walls and even caves. Once this is built, they deposit a single egg of about 9 centimeters.
Male and female share the task of ensuring that the temperature of the egg does not drop below 42 degrees Celsius for a long time as this could be crucial, and although the female will always show a greater dedication in this regard throughout the reproductive period, both parents They will depend entirely on each other and neither rain nor snow will prevent these stubborn parents from receiving the miracle of life after two long months.
If the feeding is correct, the baby changes its appearance quickly and efficiently, exceeding 2 kilograms in the first 30 days. Adult supervision is extremely important at this defenseless stage, since a poorly coordinated movement, or mere childish curiosity, could cause a fall from the nest with fatal consequences.
Every day the radiant sun with its rays could have a considerable effect and if we add to that the rain and strong mountain winds, it will be possible to understand how important it is that these animals can count on the protective shelter of the enormous bodies of the Adults.
The first few months the parents will be everything for the young vulture, bringing the long-awaited and long-awaited food stored in their nights, and once the breeding period is over, the abandoned nests and the remains of down scattered around the environment remind us that the emancipation of young people, their first flights, although somewhat clumsy, soon lead them to explore nearby corners before the world.
At the end of this stage, they prepare to make a long migratory journey to Africa, or at least that is what most of these animals do, a challenge that they will need to perfectly master the laws of the air, requiring in turn, an enormous contribution. of food that ensures its resistance.
Exercising the wings is important and the vultures know it, that is why this becomes a daily act of these animals, leaving childhood behind they enter a period of adolescence that after four years will culminate with their first heat, moment in which that they will look for a mate and try to prolong their own family in the mountains or even the same nest that saw them born and reproduce.
Leonardo Vulture
The species gyps fulvus As science knows the griffon vulture, its species expands throughout the pale arctic region and northwestern Africa, reaching central Asia, Arabia and Iran. The important Iberian population, the westernmost, represents 95% of the entire European population, while in Spain it is currently in slow expansion and although it is not very common for these animals to adapt to coastal environments, it has recently reached the Balearic Islands, which means quite a milestone.
River cuts and mountain systems of all kinds have been successfully reconstructed in the last 30 years, this has caused that in some regions their former category of endangered species is replaced by the species of special interest.
The protection offered by this risky lifestyle of a vulture is one of the keys to its success as a species, in this way they choose the most vertical walls and the most outstanding edges to settle in places that are truly pleasing to these animals, since they will seek their comfort and where they feel comfortable.
In their habitats, near them or wherever white spots can be seen on any rock, mountain or even on the ground, it is synonymous with the fact that vultures live there since these spots are caused by the accumulation of excrement and this is an easy clue to locate them. anywhere. It is often amusing to spot these authentic living birds in the distance, whose lives are deeply linked to huge stone castles hanging from the sky that are represented as their nests.
Although there are few cases of group coexistence within the order of diurnal birds of prey (something that some species that enter the group of birds share with it). nocturnal raptors), the vulture effectively takes advantage of the benefits that life in society offers, this species forms authentic bastions on which huge numbers of birds sometimes settle.