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King Vulture

DESCRIPTION: The king vulture has white eyes (ringedwith red), broad wings, a short tail, black wings and tail (above), and anorange beak. The underside of the wings and chest are white. The head and neckare bare. SIZE: Approximately 67.5-80 cm; wingspan of 1.2-1.66 m WEIGHT: About 2.7-4.5 kg FUN FACTS: There are several theories as to whythe king vulture was given its name; one theory suggests it comes from a Mayanlegend (dating back to ~450 A.D.) that believed the vulture to be a messengerbetween humans and the gods and the vulture was personified as a lord or king. How king vultures find their food is atopic scientists do not agree on: some say they have excellent eyesight and cansee the meal, others say it is their sense of smell that locates the meat,still others say neither - the vultures merely follow other scavenging birds tothe food. The king vulture has one of the mostpowerful beaks of all American vultures and can open a carcass that othervultures cannot. For this reason, they often eat first and other vultures feedoff the remains. The head and neck of a king vulturelack feathers. This helps to prevent bacteria and remains of the carcass from"fowling" up the feathers on the head. After eating, the vulture willrelax in the sun and allow the heat to bake off the bacteria.

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