Vultures

With sooty black plumage,a bare black head,and neat white stars under the wingtips,Black Vultures are almost dapper.Where as Turkey Vultures are lanky birds with teetering flight,Black Vultures are compact birds with broad wings,short tails,and powerful wingbeats.The two species often associate,the black vulture makes up for its poor sence of smell by following Turkey vultures to carcasses.Highly social birds with fierce family loyality,Black Vultures share food with relatives,feeding young for months after they've fledged.                                                                                                                                                    -Black Vultures feed almost exclusively on carrion, locating it by soaring high in the skies on thermals. From this vantage they can spot carcasses and also keep an eye on Turkey Vultures—which have a more developed sense of smell—and follow them toward food. Black Vultures often gather in numbers at carcasses and then displace Turkey Vultures from the food. Their carrion diet includes feral hogs, poultry, cattle, donkeys, raccoons, coyotes, opossums, striped skunks, and armadillos. Sometimes Black Vultures wade into shallow water to feed on floating carrion, or to catch small fish. They occasionally kill skunks, opossums, night-herons, leatherback turtle hatchlings, and livestock, including young pigs, lambs, and calves. They also often investigate dumpsters and landfills to pick at human discards.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Black Vultures live year-round in forested and open areas of the eastern and southern United States south to South America. They have expanded their range northward in the last several decades and are now seen regularly as far north as New England. Most abundant at low elevations, they breed in dense woodlands but usually forage in open habitats and along roads. Some live in semirural suburbs. Black Vultures roost in undisturbed stands of tall trees, including sycamores, pines, hickories, oaks, junipers, and bald cypress, as well as structures like electrical pylons. Roost sites are often close to water and next to obstructions that generate updrafts of air, to help the flock take flight in the early morning.