I cannot be the only person who thinks vultures are awesome. I had a whole colony (?) of them hanging out at my house for months. Mostly because my neighbor was nuts and kept leaving cat food out for the neighborhood cats and soooomebody told the vultures. They'd sun themselves on the surrounding roofs and putter around in the yard. I think they're pretty cool.
Nah I think they’re cool as heck, too. I remember I was once driving home through a nearby neighborhood and saw a vulture sitting in a lawn, eating roadkill. I lost my shit with excitement.
I pulled up a block ahead to park and then quietly walked back to watch him from across the street, just fully amazed. I’d only ever seen them in the air. I did not realize how BIG they are until it was just a few meters away.
They are so cool. Andean Condors are vultures. One of the coolest animals ever to live! I grew up in the mountains of Chile and it never disappoints to see one.
Vultures are my favourite animals, I even painted a huge griffon vulture on a wall in my home. I live in The Netherlands, where vultures dont normally appear. A few years ago though, a young bearded vulture was spotted at a 2 hour distance. I decided testing my luck and went there, and he was still sitting in a tree in the same area. I shot so many cool pictures and the moment it decided to go for a fly I will never forget. The sheer size and majesty, just wow!
I love watching them in flight. There’s just something about how effortlessly they make flying look, with the way they lazily soar in the sky. I sometimes find myself feeling somewhat jealous of them.
Vultures are awesome and make the environment way cleaner. A flock of vultures will pick a corpse clean in a few minutes or less depending on the size, and in doing so prevent any decay that causes diseases or the like.
Thank you! Committee seems so appropriate, too. When they were hanging out at my house, it always seemed like they were in deep philosophical conversations.
Nope! There’s a huge colony of black vultures around where I live, they often hang around my house because they like the big tree in it, they’re quite the beasts.
I watched a crew of them take care of a dead deer nearby once, they did such a thorough job that they basically left a hollow skin and clean bones scatters around. They even cracked the skull and got the insides. Before that the deer was starting to stink up the whole block, they did a great cleanup job.
Neat, chill dudes. Their “calls” always sounds like an old guy stifling a cough. It’s crazy how big they are up close.
I think this is the one that pukes as a defense mechanism. Because, just as you said, their stomach acid is mad powerful and if it gets on another animal it can cause serious damage.
Apparently not. From a 1994 article: ”The process by which bearded vultures break down bone tissue is not fully known. However, the esophagus and stomach show no specializations to suggest that mechanical breakdown is important.”
They correctly predicted based on digestion time that the pH of the vultures’ stomach acid is around 0.8. The article also mentions that bearded vultures have been observed flying with long bones sticking out of their beak, so it doesn’t bother them too much I guess?
Also found an x-ray of one that had eaten a rabbit leg 2 hours before the photo was taken, further suggesting that a) there’s no mechanical breakdown process, and b) they can move just fine even after swallowing long bones
I cannot be the only person who thinks vultures are awesome. I had a whole colony (?) of them hanging out at my house for months. Mostly because my neighbor was nuts and kept leaving cat food out for the neighborhood cats and soooomebody told the vultures. They'd sun themselves on the surrounding roofs and putter around in the yard. I think they're pretty cool.
Vultures are so fucking cool dude. They provide important but seldom recognized ecosystem services. Also they look dope
Nah I think they’re cool as heck, too. I remember I was once driving home through a nearby neighborhood and saw a vulture sitting in a lawn, eating roadkill. I lost my shit with excitement.
I pulled up a block ahead to park and then quietly walked back to watch him from across the street, just fully amazed. I’d only ever seen them in the air. I did not realize how BIG they are until it was just a few meters away.
:) It was a good day.
Photo I took of one a couple years ago
I probably have photos of the ones that were at my house somewhere.
Be careful posting your insta on reddit.
Your full name (assuming it’s your real one) is on there!
Wow! Those are beautiful pics of a seriously cool bird. Thanks for sharing!
They are so cool. Andean Condors are vultures. One of the coolest animals ever to live! I grew up in the mountains of Chile and it never disappoints to see one.
OH YOU LUCKY BASTARD Andean Condors are pretty much a dream sighting for me. Soo jealous 🤩
Vultures are my favourite animals, I even painted a huge griffon vulture on a wall in my home. I live in The Netherlands, where vultures dont normally appear. A few years ago though, a young bearded vulture was spotted at a 2 hour distance. I decided testing my luck and went there, and he was still sitting in a tree in the same area. I shot so many cool pictures and the moment it decided to go for a fly I will never forget. The sheer size and majesty, just wow!
I love watching them in flight. There’s just something about how effortlessly they make flying look, with the way they lazily soar in the sky. I sometimes find myself feeling somewhat jealous of them.
Vultures are awesome and make the environment way cleaner. A flock of vultures will pick a corpse clean in a few minutes or less depending on the size, and in doing so prevent any decay that causes diseases or the like.
They’re literally my favorite birds ever. A group of Vultures is called a committee!
Thank you! Committee seems so appropriate, too. When they were hanging out at my house, it always seemed like they were in deep philosophical conversations.
Nope! There’s a huge colony of black vultures around where I live, they often hang around my house because they like the big tree in it, they’re quite the beasts.
I watched a crew of them take care of a dead deer nearby once, they did such a thorough job that they basically left a hollow skin and clean bones scatters around. They even cracked the skull and got the insides. Before that the deer was starting to stink up the whole block, they did a great cleanup job.
Neat, chill dudes. Their “calls” always sounds like an old guy stifling a cough. It’s crazy how big they are up close.
dang, that's some powerful stomach acid!
I think this is the one that pukes as a defense mechanism. Because, just as you said, their stomach acid is mad powerful and if it gets on another animal it can cause serious damage.
Jim Henson keeps delighting after all these years
The bones are their money
So are the worms
They pull your hair up but not out to turn into a man and have another chance at life
I feel like that would make his body rigid lol, how does he move after eating that whole thing? Nature is wild
Esophagus strong enough to break bones.
Wow is this true? I thought they used a gizzard or something
Apparently not. From a 1994 article:
”The process by which bearded vultures break down bone tissue is not fully known. However, the esophagus and stomach show no specializations to suggest that mechanical breakdown is important.”
They correctly predicted based on digestion time that the pH of the vultures’ stomach acid is around 0.8. The article also mentions that bearded vultures have been observed flying with long bones sticking out of their beak, so it doesn’t bother them too much I guess?
Also found an x-ray of one that had eaten a rabbit leg 2 hours before the photo was taken, further suggesting that a) there’s no mechanical breakdown process, and b) they can move just fine even after swallowing long bones
Thank you for sharing this page!
Cool! Thanks for pulling up the info.
So if I've understood correctly, the bone just gets slowly dissolved from one end and gets shorter until it's all essentially digestable goo?
I think so - but I couldn’t find any source that confirms it 100%
I should call her...
Meanwhile Osedax:
He looks so happy :)
I thought as much, the zookeeper looks nervous
That's the most supervillain arm resting bird i have ever seen
My favorite bird!
Only known vertebrate whose diet consists almost exclusively of bones. A number of invertebrate animals with this diet are known.
Is this the same guy as the one being hugged by the owl?
That's what I was thinking! Sofia the owl
ETA the link
Mr. Pepe!
Look at the talons on that magnificent creature!!!
I love him. Look at this funky big birb with leg warmers and shit.
It was also the night that the skeletons came to life...
Where did the bone go? No way it isn't broken somehow as it swallows
That animal looks exactly like what I imagined a boke eating bird would look like.
God, imagine bending your neck and feeling the giant bone you swallowed earlier