King Vulture

The King Vulture is a large, boldly patterned scavenger of lowland tropical forests from southern Mexico through much of South America. Unlike most vultures, its body plumage is a pale creamy white to buff, contrasting sharply with solid black wings and tail.

Its bare head is famous for a riot of colors, including orange, yellow, purple, and red, along with a fleshy orange comb, though this coloring is only visible on the living bird and not reflected in feather color.

The strong contrast between pale body feathers and black flight feathers makes it one of the more visually striking vultures to identify from a feather.

Shape and Size

Flight feathers are broad and long, appropriate for a large soaring bird; tail feathers are sturdy and moderately long with a squared tip.

Color and Pattern

• Body and covert feathers: creamy white to pale buff, occasionally with a faint grayish tinge
• Flight feathers (primaries and secondaries): solid glossy black
• Tail feathers: solid black
• Neck ruff: grayish-black, forming a collar at the base of the neck
• Shafts: pale on the white feathers, dark on the black ones

Distinguishing from Similar Species

The pale creamy-white body feathers combined with solid black wings and tail are distinctive from the mostly gray Griffon or Cinereous Vultures of the Old World and from the mostly black New World vultures like the Turkey and Black Vulture, none of which show this pale body coloring.

Adults show creamy white to buff body plumage with black flight and tail feathers and a dark neck ruff; sexes look similar. Juveniles are mostly dark grayish-black overall and take several years to acquire the pale adult body plumage.

Molt proceeds gradually, tracking the gradual multi-year transition from dark juvenile plumage to the pale adult pattern.

Found in lowland tropical forests, forest edges, and adjacent savanna from southern Mexico through Central America and into South America as far south as northern Argentina.

The species is generally resident, moving locally in response to food availability rather than undertaking long migrations.

Feeds on carrion, often being one of the first and most dominant species at a carcass due to its size and strong bill, capable of tearing through tough hide that smaller vultures cannot open.

Nests on the ground or in tree cavities in remote forest, without building a stick structure. Largely silent apart from occasional hisses and grunts.

A creamy white body feather paired with solid black flight or tail feathers, found in lowland tropical forest of Central or South America, is a strong indication of this species.