Jul 2, 2008

Triumphant Nubian Vulture

The Nubian, lappet-faced, or eared vulture has every right to gaze at the sky in contemplative triumph.

These Old World vultures are among the largest birds on the planet, with a wingspan of nine feet. Unlike many other vultures, these birds are not gregarious. They keep to themselves in mated pairs, with each pair dominating a large range of territory. This decreases the number of Nubians who show up at any given carcass, and keeps them from having to travel too far for food.

They have amazing eyesight and essentially no sense of smell. That's a good combo if you're dining on rotting meat.

Photo source: Frank Wouters



5 comments:

Jack Ruttan said...

What a splendid fellow. I'm sure dinosaurs were as cool-looking.

Anonymous said...

"They have amazing eyesight and essentially no sense of smell. That's a good combo if you're dining on rotting meat."

Yes, but as splenid as they look, the feathery neck seems not so fit to plunge head forward into a carcass, let´s say of any random large animal. Or do they just eat small dead animals?

Unknown said...

That is so ugly, I bet his own mom doesn't claim him.

Anonymous said...

It reminds me of drawings of a Dodo. And I've always wondered... Do bald headed birds get sunburned?

Unknown said...

Who knew vultures had EYELASHES!!??