The American Black Vulture lives from the southeastern United States to South America. It has a restricted distribution than the Turkey Vulture, which breeds all the way into Canada and south to Tierra del Fuego. Despite the similar name and appearance, this species is unrelated to the Eurasian Black Vulture. Black Vultures inhabit relatively open areas which provide scattered forests or shrublands.
The American Black Vulture is a scavenger and feeds on carrion. In areas populated by humans, it also feeds at garbage dumps. It soars high while searching for food, holding its wings horizontally when gliding.
The American Black Vulture is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and was last assessed in 2012 by BirdLife International. This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be increasing, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is extremely large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
We're celebrating Vulture Week because today marks International Vulture Awareness Day! This commemorative day has been celebrated since at least 2009 and aims to highlight the importance of vultures and vulture conservation through education. Why are vultures bald? Read more »
If you think our Birdorable birds are cute as adults, what about when they are babies? Below are some baby photos (shared via Flickr Creative Commons) of the American Black Vulture. Black Vultures do not build nests. Eggs are usually laid in a scrape-type location, which may... Read more »
