Vulture Chick

Here are a few shots of a lappet-faced vulture chick taken from its nest in Etosha, Namibia, for the purposes of taking a blood sample and tagging.

Though the lappet-faced vulture is the largest of the Old World vultures, and is known for its aggression and belligerence, the chicks were remarkably docile. So much so that they didn't fight being extracted from their nest (last photo) and didn't even balk at having their blood drawn (middle photo). In fact, they just laid down through the whole ordeal (first photo), and didn't make any attempts to escape, despite not being restrained.

I've had two children who were particularly docile and easy-going in their infancy. Both have since become the two scrappiest spitfires of the brood. Maybe a child or vulture whisperer could weigh in on the psychology of that.

Photos by Carrie Cizauskas