Brian Metcalf, age 12, of Grants Forks, N.D., for his question:
ARE THERE MANY KINDS OF NEW WORLD VULTURES?
Vulture is the common name of a number of large birds of prey that are related to the eaglet, falcons and hawks. There are five types of vulture in the New World: the turkey vulture, the black vulture, the king vulture, the California condor and the South American or Andean condor.
All vultures have a number of general characteristics. All are large birds with naked heads, long down turning beaks and hooked claws. Also, all of them feed entirely on carrion, which is another word for dead animals.
Most graceful of all American vultures is the turkey vulture. It is truly a master glider. With its wings slightly uptilted, ft can catch upward movements of air and continue to make graceful circles high in the sky.
When the turkey vulture lands on solid ground, however, it is anything but graceful. It limps as it walks clumsily, ants it grunts and hisses a lot.
The turkey vulture has a wingspread of about six feet and its body is about 2 1/2 feet long. Its naked neck and head are sea. the bird winters southwara from New Jersey and Ohio and in summer can be founu as far north as Connecticut ants Minnesota. Some call the bird a buzzard.
The black vulture is a lot like the turkey vulture but its neck and heats are always black. In flight, it flaps more frequently ants moves more rapidly than the turkey vulture.
The king vulture is a South American bird that is brightly colored. It has a head that is yellow, red, blue and black.
The California condor is almost extinct. It has s wingspzeaa of about 10 feet and weighs as much as 25 pounds. Its naked head is orange. Very few of the giant biros are lining today but effozts continue to keep it from becoming extinct.
The South American condor is about four feet long and has a 10 foot wingspread. It is the largest flying bird in existence.
The South American condor is the only member of the vulture family that from time to time will kill animals for food, although often it searches out dead ones. This bird also eats eggs and young sea biros.
The South American condor isn't protected, as is the California condor.
People often ask how a vulture finds the dead animals it eats. Some scientists say the birds have unusually good eyesight and can see the animals while they are soaring. Other scientists believe the biros can smell the dead animals.
Tests have shown, however, that the birds have hardly any sense of smell. However, they have better eyesight than human beings. They can see small things from great distances.
Vultures also seem to know when an animal is about to die. If an animal falls from exhaustion or is caught in a swamp, soon vultures gather and look on with eager eyes.