The king vulture feasts on food that some other creatures would gag on-the rotting bodies of dead animals. This bird's bulky beak is perfectly suited to rip into thick flesh. The vulture's size and beautiful bright colors warn other scavengers feeding on a dead body to clear the area and make way for the king.
Baldy: The king vulture's head and neck are featherless so they don't pick up blood and pieces of rotten flesh. A few spots on the neck and head have short hair, which is much easier to clean after a bloody meal.
It Sees dead Things: Many scavengers have a great sense of smell so they can follow the stench of rotting carcasses. The king vulture, however, relies strictly on vision. The bird's white, wide eyes can spot meals from great heights.
King of the Dead[]
The tough hide of an armadillo peels away when the king digs in for a feast.
The king vulture has the perfect tools for feasting on the bodies of dead animals. The bird's thick, curved beak is strong enough to tear open even the armored skin of alligators. The beak's edges are as sharp as scissors and can slice away strips of meat. This vulture's claws are too weak to tear flesh, but they are large and give the scavenger perfect balance when it tears into bodies, even those floating in water.
Crop Circle: A featherless pouch on the king vulture's chest is called its "crop." The bird stores undigested food there, which it sometimes has to spit out so it's light enough to fly.
Good Grooming: King vultures spend a lot of time caring for their wings. These vultures spend hours each day cleaning blood off their wings, and they spread them out in the sun to dry.
It's Good to be the King[]
- The king vulture can't sniff out its own meals, so it often looks for the circling patterns of other vultures to locate carcasses (bodies) of dead animals.
- The king is the world's biggest vulture, and its head and neck are more brightly colored than others of its kind, which scares smaller scavengers away when the king arrives.
- The other vultures wait in the wings as the king vulture devours the meatiest scraps of flesh from the victim's body. They'll fight over the rest when the bigger bird leaves.
Trading Card[]
Trivia[]
- The "It's Good to be the King" illustrations are also used in the Wildlife Explorer series; here, titled "Fit For a King", there is an additional fourth image of the king vulture tearing some flesh from the animal, which is confirmed to be a river dolphin, and the other vultures to be turkey vultures.
- The title "It's Good to be the King" comes from Mel Brook's History of the World.
- The subheading "King of the Dead" is possibly a reference to a character of the same name from Lord of the Rings.