Black Vulture
Range: From south-eastern United States down through Mexico, Central America, and parts of South America.
Habitat: Lowland areas along rivers or in open habitats throughout their range.
Lifespan: 5-10 years in the wild, 20+ years in captivity. The oldest known black vulture lived to be 25 years, 6 months old.
Ned
He was hatched in 1989 in the wild. He was found in Nashville, TN. He was injured with an infection that caused his head to swell. He was rehabilitated and released, but he kept coming back. He is not an imprint, but human-associated. He came to Turtle Bay from the American Eagle Foundation on April 7, 2008.
Fun Facts
Both the male and female incubate the eggs.
Black vultures are often seen flying with turkey vultures.
A pair of black vultures may stay together and reuse a nesting site for many years.
Black vultures have projectile vomit and, be warned, they can aim!
The Black vulture does not have a good sense of smell like their cousin the Turkey vulture. To make up for this, they follow Turkey vultures to find food. Then they scare the Turkey vultures off the food so they can eat first.
The vulture’s bare head and legs make for easy clean up after a meal of carrion, or dead animals.