Black vulture (lat. Aegypius monachus) belongs to the family Accipitridae.This is a fairly large bird of prey weighing about 12 kilograms.It feeds mainly on carrion, so called natural medic.The habitat where the black vulture lives will never be the spread of infectious disease epizootic.
long broad wings have a span of up to 2.5 meters, which allows the bird for a long time and gently float in the heavenly heights in search of prey.The large head and strong neck are covered with short down, which helps to avoid contamination during food.
Bird of Prey - black vulture
beak neck large, massive, slightly flattened at the sides, well adapted to the butchering carcasses of animals and birds.It is painted in brown and yellow, in young animals beak black.Paws gray dense, low, blunt claws.Legs rather weak and unable to support the weight.Adults brown color at the bottom of the neck is clearly seen as a pointed necklace bright feathers.Young birds are black.
inhabited by black vulture?
Now a detailed answer to this question.The area, home to black vulture - is mountainous and lowland area with sparse forests.Habitat extends to the north of Africa, southern Europe, the whole Asian area of the eastern mountain areas of China.
Basically, the birds are sedentary, but certain types of vultures in the winter wander widely in search of food, will reach the Japanese islands.Feeding habits of birds of prey do not allow them to eat frozen meat, so where lives black vulture, a warm climate.In winter, birds of prey moved to the southern regions, where live from October to March.
breeding period lasts about six months, starting in January.Vultures often settle in separate pairs.Courting the female, the male performs incredible pirouettes in the air.He carries the bride in a joint soaring and chase each other.Choosing girlfriend male courtship satisfied on the ground.
nesting sites
places where black vulture lives and their offspring grows quite secluded.For egg-laying couples use tree hollows, depressions under driftwood, shallow caves, voids formed by inverted tree.Nesting sites can be placed in the crevices of abandoned houses, farm buildings, in cracks in the rocks.They build nests of dry twigs, paving the bottom of thin twigs, grass, animal hair.Hole diameter can reach two meters and weigh a hundredweight.Took a fancy place for rearing the couple can be used repeatedly.
Reproduction
female black vulture lays one or two eggs are large, brightly colored brown spots.Brooding engaged couple together, taking turns flying off in search of food.After about forty days appearing chicks from eggs covered with soft down.Babies are born completely helpless and require sustained attention to his parents.Food intended for children, vultures swallow large chunks, and then regurgitate them in the nest.
Two months later, the chick fluff on the body is changed to black plumage.After four months young black vultures are quite independent.Unfortunately, it survives to adulthood at least half of newborn chicks.In zoos the world where living bird black vulture, it is possible to increase the rate of survival.The maximum age of life predators is fifty years.
If nearby is not carrion, vultures that can attack young animals vyklevyvaya their eyes or steal other people's nests of small chicks.
Hunting
on hunting birds of prey go early in the morning.They long hovering in the sky, looking for prey.Vultures are raised so high that turns into a small black dot.But a keen eye bird of prey is able to see everything that is happening on the ground.Should he find swarming flock of crows, kites period or as soon becomes clear that there is something to make money.
wings folded and tucked paws, black vulture stone falls down on prey, instantly dispelling of her enemies.By the successful hunter could immediately rush competitors who attempt to snatch a piece of the trophy, satisfied with the noise and fight.Saturate the bird fly away just feasting and watching their neighbors.Vultures are able to load up so tight that hardly rise into the air.
reasons extinction
Over the past couple of decades, the number of birds of prey in the world significantly diminished.The reason there are a number of objective reasons.
to their permanent wintering several years occurred severe winters with heavy snowfalls, which created difficulties in foraging.In cattle farms practically allowed the mass death of animals.And in the case of a single mortality corpses disposed of safely.In addition, many fur farms and farms for the breeding of small animals (mink, sable) significantly reduced their livestock or even shut down businesses.
above circumstances immediately had a negative impact on the situation of wintering vultures.Hunger many birds exhausted and had lost the ability to fly.Cases of eating dead relatives, which is an abnormal phenomenon.The birds settled in the urban environment, bolder and began to look for food in the public dumps.Moreover, they have ceased to be afraid of people, which was an additional factor for increased mortality valuable birds at the hands of man.This also added the lack of control of human activities related to hunting vultures, ruin their nests device traps with poisoned bait.
bird of prey is listed in the Red Book of Russia, and also in Appendix II of the CITES international convention.
If you do not stop the mass death of birds, soon people will forget who the black vulture, a photo which will remain in the books as a reminder of the lost population of beneficial birds of prey.
