Trivia question for Jul-17-2011

Carter is up with today’s trivia and he picked a cool looking bird.  This is a powerful scavenger that soars over the forests looking for its next meal.  They are often the first to feed at a large carcass; its strong bill can rip through the toughest hides.

These birds soar for hours effortlessly, only flapping its wings infrequently. While in flight, its wings are held flat with slightly raised tips, and from a distance they can appear to be headless while in flight. Its wing beats are deep and strong. Despite its size and gaudy coloration, this bird is quite inconspicuous when it is perched in trees. While perched, it holds its head lowered and thrust forward.  They eat anything from cattle carcasses to beached fish and dead lizards. In forests, it is likely to eat sloth. Principally a carrion eater, there are isolated reports of it eating injured animals, newborn calves and small lizards.

So here are Carter’s questions:  Tell us what this bird is and where they can be found?  Also, tell us what these guys do to their legs to cool themselves (hint… they do the same thing that their relatives the stork does)?

Good Luck 😉

Answer:

Congratulations to Ty from Atlanta GA for being the first with all the correct answers.  The colorful bird we featured is the King Vulture.  The King Vulture is a large bird found in Central and South America. It is a member of the New World vulture family Cathartidae. This vulture lives predominantly in tropical lowland forests stretching from southern Mexico to northern Argentina.

Like its relatives the Storks, the King Vulture shoots its white, liquid droppings onto its legs to cool itself in hot weather.  Large and predominantly white, the King Vulture has gray to black ruff, flight, and tail feathers. The head and neck are bald, with the skin color varying, including yellow, orange, blue, purple, and red. The King Vulture has a very noticeable yellow fleshy caruncle on its beak.

This vulture is a scavenger and it often makes the initial cut into a fresh carcass. It also displaces smaller New World vulture species from a carcass. King Vultures have been known to live for up to 30 years in captivity. Here is more on these big birds: King Vulture

Thanks for playing along 😉