Also known as the urban scavenger, the Black Vulture is a compact, tough cousin of the Turkey Vulture. Unlike its red-headed relative with a legendary sense of smell, this bird relies on sharp eyesight and teamwork to find food. Bold, social, and opportunistic, it thrives everywhere from remote forests to farmland and city edges, turning overlooked scraps into survival.
- Length: 23–27 inches (59–70 cm)
- Wingspan: 4.5–5 feet (137–150 cm)
- Range: Found year-round across the southeastern U.S., Central America, and much of South America, with numbers steadily expanding northward into new territory.
What to Look For
At first sight, the Black Vulture looks like a dark, heavy silhouette against the sky, but the details make it easy to separate from its cousins. The plumage is uniform black, lacking the bronze or greenish sheen you might catch on a Turkey Vulture.
The head is bare and gray-black, wrinkled and leathery, giving the bird a grim but practical appearance. Up close, the dark eyes and hooked bill add to the impression of a bird built purely for survival.
In flight, the shape is the giveaway. Black Vultures have broad, stocky wings with short, squared-off tails. When they bank, you’ll see the white “wing windows” — bright patches at the tips of the primaries that flash against the otherwise black feathers. Unlike Turkey Vultures, which soar with wings held in a shallow “V” and wobble side to side, Black Vultures fly flatter, steadier, and with bursts of quick, choppy wingbeats between glides.
Their profile is more compact, their wing strokes more forceful, like a bird determined to get somewhere rather than simply drifting with the air.
On the ground, they carry themselves with confidence. Perched on snags, rooftops, or fenceposts, they look heavy-shouldered and hunched, scanning with restless movements.
Their uniform black plumage and squared tails make them easy to pick out even at rest, and when a group gathers on a rooftop or along a treeline, the impression is unmistakable — the dark, watchful presence of birds that have learned to thrive by sticking together.
Behavior & Flight Style
Black Vultures live by boldness and cooperation. Unlike the solitary, drifting Turkey Vulture, these birds are highly social, often moving in family groups or roosting in large communal flocks. Around a carcass, they operate almost like a pack — squabbling, pushing, and feeding side by side, their confidence reinforced by numbers.
They’re also opportunists, quick to investigate garbage sites, livestock pastures, or roadkill, and bold enough to linger around people if a meal seems possible.
Their flight style is distinct once you’ve seen it. Where Turkey Vultures float on thermals with a lazy rocking motion, Black Vultures mix short glides with rapid, shallow wingbeats that look almost hurried.
Their wings are held flatter, the squared tail balancing their stocky build, giving them a purposeful silhouette in the air. They may not be graceful in the way a hawk or eagle cuts across the sky, but they’re efficient, covering ground quickly as they search for food.
On the ground or perched, they look deliberate and self-assured, often gathering in clusters on rooftops, fenceposts, or trees. If Turkey Vultures seem shy and slow, Black Vultures seem fearless and direct — birds that have traded elegance for sheer adaptability, thriving wherever there’s an edge to be found.
Diet & Hunting
Black Vultures are scavengers through and through, but they take a different approach than their red-headed cousins. Where Turkey Vultures drift low and follow scent, Black Vultures rely on sight and social cues.
They often watch the sky for Turkey Vultures circling a carcass, then drop in to join the feast — sometimes arriving in such numbers that they drive the original finders away. It’s a strategy built on teamwork and assertiveness, less about subtlety and more about strength in numbers.
Their menu is broad, limited only by what the landscape provides. Roadkill, livestock remains, and wild carcasses all attract them, and they’ll strip a find quickly when feeding in groups. Unlike Turkey Vultures, which prefer to wait until carrion softens, Black Vultures use their strength and cooperation to tear in early, sometimes opening carcasses for other scavengers that arrive later.
In rural areas, they’re known to raid farmyards for afterbirth from livestock or pick at garbage piles near towns. On rare occasions, they’ve even been documented attacking weak or newborn animals, though carrion remains their staple.
What makes them remarkable is their social feeding behavior. Where most raptors hunt or scavenge alone, Black Vultures lean on family ties and flock dynamics, sharing the search and the meal.
It’s a survival strategy that has made them one of the most successful scavengers across the Americas.
Migration & Range
Black Vultures are not long-distance travelers. Unlike Turkey Vultures that funnel south in autumn, Black Vultures are mostly year-round residents, sticking close to their home ranges as long as food is available.
Their resilience in both wild and human-shaped landscapes means they rarely need to move far, relying instead on communal roosts and family groups to anchor them to familiar territory.
That said, their range is steadily expanding. Once restricted mostly to the southeastern U.S., they’ve pushed northward over the past century, aided by warmer winters and an endless buffet of roadkill, landfills, and agricultural byproducts.
Today, Black Vultures are common not only in the Southeast but also across the mid-Atlantic states, into the Midwest, and along the edges of New England. Southward, they remain abundant through Mexico, Central America, and deep into South America.
Their success is tied to adaptability. Whether soaring over tropical forests, circling farmland pastures, or perching on rooftops in city suburbs, Black Vultures make a living wherever carrion can be found. In some places, their sheer numbers make them as familiar as crows, a reminder that even the heaviest, least glamorous raptors can thrive when the landscape changes in their favor.
Nesting & Life Cycle
Black Vultures keep things simple when it comes to nesting. They don’t bother with building elaborate stick structures high in trees. Instead, they choose hidden, sheltered spots — a hollow log, a cave, an abandoned building, or a dense thicket on the ground.
The setting might look unremarkable, but for the vultures, it’s safety that matters. The lack of a true nest matches their no-frills lifestyle: practical, efficient, and designed for survival.
Clutches usually contain one to three eggs, pale with dark blotches, laid directly on the ground or bare substrate. Both parents share incubation duties, taking turns over a period of about five weeks. Once the chicks hatch, they are fed by regurgitation — meals of pre-digested carrion delivered by the adults.
The young grow quickly, but fledging doesn’t mean independence. Black Vultures are social birds, and fledglings often remain with family groups for months, sometimes joining their parents and siblings in cooperative foraging.
This extended family structure is unusual among raptors. Older offspring may even help feed and protect younger chicks in future broods, a rare behavior in the bird world.
By the time juveniles are ready to strike out on their own, they’ve learned not just how to fly and feed, but how to function as part of the communal network that keeps Black Vultures thriving.
Sounds
Like their Turkey Vulture cousins, Black Vultures lack a syrinx, the voice box that gives most birds their range of songs and calls. Because of this, they are nearly silent in flight and have only a few rough sounds in their repertoire. Around nests or feeding sites, you may hear low grunts, hisses, or raspy wheezes — guttural noises that carry more menace than melody.
These sounds are used to warn off rivals, settle squabbles at a carcass, or communicate between mates and chicks.
The silence overhead is part of their character. To see a group of Black Vultures circling above a field or perched in rows along a fence is to witness a quiet presence, one that needs no scream to make itself known.
Their power lies in numbers, in persistence, and in the sharp contrast of black wings flashing white at the tips, not in the call of the sky.
Conservation
Black Vultures are thriving. Their populations are stable or increasing across the Americas, thanks in part to their adaptability and willingness to live alongside humans.
Where some raptors suffer from shrinking habitats or dwindling prey, Black Vultures make use of landfills, roadkill, and agricultural byproducts. Warmer winters and human-altered landscapes have even fueled their northward expansion, pushing their range well beyond historic boundaries.
Their success, however, isn’t without friction. Farmers sometimes view them as nuisances, especially when flocks gather around livestock pastures. Bold and social, Black Vultures have been known to harass weak or newborn animals, adding to their reputation as opportunists.
Despite these conflicts, they remain protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in the U.S., a recognition of their vital role in the ecosystem.
Cool Fact: Black Vultures are unusually family-oriented for raptors. Older offspring often help their parents feed and protect the next brood, forming extended family groups that forage and roost together. This cooperative behavior gives them a social edge rare among birds of prey.
The Black Vulture may not have the wingspan of a condor or the elegance of a hawk, but it is a survivor in every sense. Bold, resourceful, and fiercely social, it thrives where others struggle, turning overlooked scraps into strength.
Their dark forms circling overhead or gathered in family groups remind us that nature’s balance depends as much on the cleaners as on the hunters. Spot one flashing its white wing patches against the sky, and you’re seeing a bird that has mastered survival by working together.