Stats

Lifespan

10-25 yrs

Size

Large

Diet

Carnivore

Activity

Diurnal

Social

Flock

Biome

Open woodland

Range

The Americas

Movement

Flight

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Herd Safety

Status

Common

About

This scavenger lives in open forests and fields across the Americas. It lacks a syrinx and communicates solely by making guttural hissing or grunting sounds.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg

   One or two eggs are incubated on a high stick nest or cliff ledge, guarded closely by the pair.
2. 2.
   hatchling

   A downy hatchling is fed torn meat by its parents and grows quickly in a high nest.
3. 3.
   juvenile

   A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest, learning to soar and to make its first kills.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown, hunting on its own with adult plumage.

Learn more

• View on iNaturalist →

Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Cathartiformes

Family

Cathartidae

Genus

Coragyps

Species

Coragyps atratus