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January 8, 2018

Vulture bird live off the scraps left behind by predators which if you think about it kind of makes theme like the crime-scene cleanup crew of the animal world.

Vultures are scavenging birds that can be separated into two families old-world vultures and new world cultures. New world vultures can be found in North and South America while old world vultures can be found in Europe Africa and Asia. The similarities between the two groups of vultures are due to convergent evolution though they're not closely related they independently evolved similar traits to adapt to their environment. New world vultures are unique because they have a highly evolved sense of smell which they use to locate their rotting dinners. Their beaks are relatively weak compared to those other birds of prey this is because it's adapted to tear the weak flesh of partially rotted carrion rather than fresh meat, they're generally pretty large and have bald heads. Old World vultures are not closely related to new world cultures and do not share their keen sense of smell, instead, they rely on their eyesight to track down dinner. 

Vulture

Characteristic of vulture:

Many vultures are with their bald head, although it is widely believed that they evolve their golden domes to keep their heads clean when feeding it may also help in regulating body temperature. Vultures tuck their heads into their feathery bodies when it's cold out and stretch out their necks when it's too hot. Vultures rarely attack healthy animals but they have been observed killing the sick and wounded. If a hive is too thick for its weaker beak to break through it'll wait for larger scavengers to do all the dirty work before swooping in to clean up the leftovers. They have incredibly corrosive stomach acid which helps them digest the rotting meat without making them sick. They can eat the scraps that would otherwise go to waste the magnificent bearded. Vulture also known as the lever guy or ostrich has evolved a slightly different diet from his cousin the bearded vulture is the only known animal whose diet is almost exclusively bone. Bones that are too big to swallow or too tough to break are often dropped from a height of up to 500 feet onto the rocks below, once consumed their stomach acid can digest a large bone in under 24 hours. 
New World Vultures will often empty their stomach load to make takeoff easier when threatened by an attacker; the putrid vomited meal may also distract the predator giving the bird more time to escape. They also use their involvement as a foul-smelling predator repellent around the nesting site and if you thought that was gross painfully hear about their urine soaked legs. Most will urinate down their legs as a cooling mechanism commonly referred to as uro hydrosis as the urine evaporates it cools the bird just like sweating in humans the uric acid has an added benefit killing the bacteria that is accumulated from walking through all criticism. Vulture populations in South Asia have declined dramatically in the past 20 years due to the remnants of a veterinary drug founded in carcasses. Dogs and rats have skyrocketed in the region so you can see vultures have an important place in the food chain by picking carcasses clean they're preventing the spread of harmful toxins and bacteria.