Painted Vulture

The Painted Vulture (Sarcoramphus sacra, formerly Vultur sacra), sometimes also called Bartram's Painted Vulture, is a rare species of vulture from Florida

Description

The following description comes from naturalist, William Bartram, during his 1791 travels to the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida

‘The bill is long and strait almost to the point, when it is hooked or bent suddenly down and sharp; the head and neck bare of feathers nearly down to the stomach, when the feathers begin to cover the skin, and soon become long and of a soft texture, forming a ruff or tippet, in which the bird by contracting his neck can hide that as well as his head; the bare skin on the neck appears loose and wrinkled, which is of a deep bright yellow colour, intermixed with coral red; the hinder part of the neck is nearly covered with short, stiff hair; and the skin of this part of the neck is of a dun-purple colour, gradually becoming red as it approaches the yellow of the sides and forepart. The crown of the head is red; there are lobed lappets of a redish orange colour, which lay on the base of the upper mandible.
But what is singular, a large portion of the stomach hangs down on the breast of the bird, in the likeness of a sack or half wallet, and seems to be a duplicature of the craw, which is naked and of a redish flesh colour, this is partly concealed by the feathers of the breast, unless when it is loaded with food, (which is commonly, I believe, roasted reptiles) and then it appears prominent. The plumage of the bird is generally white or cream colour, except the quill-feathers of the wings and two or three rows of the coverts, which are of a beautiful dark brown; the tail which is large and white is tipped with this dark brown or black; the legs and feet of a clear white; the eye is encircled with a gold coloured iris; the pupil black.
Most notable is the white tail with a black tip, which is the main physical feature that differentiates it from the King Vulture of Central & South America, which has an all-black tail. Bartram further describes that the bird was rarely spotted except for when it would feed on roasted frogs, snakes, and lizards left behind by wildfires, and that the bird's feathers were used ceremonially by both the Creek and Muscogee Native Americans.’

The Painted Vulture is a close relative of the South American King Vulture, (Sarcoramphus papa)

Despite its size and gaudy coloration, this vulture is quite inconspicuous when it is perched in trees. While perched, it holds its head lowered and thrust forward. It is non-migratory and, unlike the turkey and American black vulture, it generally lives alone or in pairs.

This vulture uses urohydrosis, defecating on its legs, to lower its body temperature.

The painted vulture lacks a voice box, although it can make low croaking noises and wheezing sounds in courtship, and bill-snapping noises when threatened.

Ecology and Behavior

Very little is known about this birds behavior in the wild, most information comes from captive specimens.

Painted Vultures feed primarily on corpses, ranging from cattle to alligators to beached fish and dead lizards.

Painted Vultures locate their food primarily through vision but also use smell, they will also trail turkey or black vultures to find food and then using their larger size and powerful beak to bully the smaller birds away.

Using its bill to tear, it makes the initial cut in a fresh carcass. This allows the smaller, weaker-beaked vultures, which can not open the hide of a carcass, access to the carcass after the king vulture has fed. The vulture's tongue is rasp-like, which allows it to pull flesh off of the carcass's bones. Generally, it only eats the skin and harder parts of the tissue of its meal. The king vulture has also been recorded eating fallen fruit of palm trees while in captivity.

An adult Painted vulture sexually matures when it is about five or six years old, with females maturing slightly earlier than males. The birds mainly breed during the summer. A Painted vulture mates for life and generally lays a single unmarked white egg in its nest in a hollow in a tree. To ward off potential predators, the vultures keep their nests foul-smelling. Both parents incubate the egg for 56 to 62 days before it hatches. If the egg is lost, it will often be replaced after about six weeks. The parents share incubating and brooding duties until the chick is about a week old, after which they often stand guard rather than brood. The young are semi-altricial—they are helpless when born but are covered in downy feathers (truly altricial birds are born naked), and their eyes are open at birth. Developing quickly, the chicks are fully alert by their second day, able to beg and wriggle around the nest, preen themselves, and peck by their third day. They start growing their second coat of white down by day 10 and stand on their toes by day 20. From one to three months of age, chicks walk around and explore the vicinity of the nest, and take their first flights at about three months of age.

Conservation

The Painted Vulture is very rare, with no surviving adults out in the wild.

The Maple Hills Zoo, Seasideville Zoo, and Brevard Zoo are currently working on a captive breeding program for the species. Though it has proved somewhat difficult with only a single clutch being successfully reared at the Seasideville Zoo.

Wild populations have always been historically low, due to a natural rareness compounded by harvesting by Native Americans. Though further decline can be attributed to pesticides and lead poisoning from hunting.