Trivia question for Sep-22-2011

Olivia thinks these birds are cool looking.  These birds are so smart that they use a stone to break open their favorite eggs.  They are excellent scavengers at garbage dumps and town markets, where they thrive on a diet of rotting rubbish.

This species is often seen soaring in thermals often with other scavengers. They feed on a range of food including mammal feces (especially human), insects in dung, carrion as well as vegetable matter and sometimes small live prey. Studies suggest that feeding on mammalian (in this case, ungulate) feces helps in obtaining carotenoid pigments responsible for the bright yellow and orange facial skin. They are usually silent but near the nest they make high-pitched mewing or hissing notes.

So here are Olivia’s questions: Tell us what this bird is and what type of egg they like to eat the most?  Also, tell us where these guys can be found and if they are considered endangered?

Good Luck 😉

Answer:

Congratulations to Aaron from Jacksonville FL for getting our trivia correct.  The odd looking bird we featured is the Egyptian Vulture.  The Egyptian Vulture is found widely distributed from southwestern Europe and northern Africa to southern Asia. It has sometimes also been known as the White Scavenger Vulture or Pharaoh’s Chicken. Like other vultures it soars on thermals and the underwing black and white pattern and wedge tail make it distinctive. It sometimes uses stones to break its favorite eggs (the ostrich egg), making it one of the few birds that make use of tools.

These guys are not considered endangered but they have declined in much of its range due to the recent modernization of formerly primitive cultures; the result is a reduction in the availability of foodstuffs such as offal (we had to look this word up and it means the entrails and internal organs of an animal) and rubbish.  Here is more on these strange birds: Egyptian Vulture

Thanks for playing along 😉