Vultures

The lack of feathers on vultures’ heads helps with cleanliness – since these birds prefer to eat carrion (dead animals). Vultures will pick the carcasses of animals clean, often putting their heads inside the carcass. The lack of feathers allows the sun to kill the bacteria from the carrion.

Most birds of prey do not have a good sense of smell. The exception is the turkey vulture. Other birds will watch and follow turkey vultures to find dead animals. Black vultures have great vision! They are known to follow turkey vultures, who have a keen sense of smell, to food. In the wild, you might see black vultures flying above turkey vultures, following their lead!

Vultures provide an essential service for the health of our ecosystems by eating dead animals and reducing the spread of disease. Vultures have highly acidic stomach acid so they can digest the bacteria in the carrion without getting sick.