Thankyouverymuch.

King Vulture, originally uploaded by andyskelton-a Blog a day http://andrewskelton.net.

The King has leeeeft the building! Who said vultures are ugly, the certainly had never clapped eyes on the wonder King Vulture.

I’ve photographed these birds before but never in the kind of light that beautifully illuminated the very vivid colours of this magnificent scavenger. As I’ve said before, these photos are straight off the camera in terms of exposure, saturation etc., the only thing I do is add the signature at the bottom, so the colours you see here are truly representative of the creature itself.

One of the largest birds of prey, it’s found through out South America and it is believed that it’s name derives not because it’s biggest or best but more due to ancient culture beliefs that these were messengers to their gods.

Vultures are much maligned and misunderstood. Whilst they are seen in places where death and decay are prevalent, these birds are fastidious about their own hygiene.

The other thing about vultures that isn’t widely known is how intelligent they are. They very quickly work out how and where is the easiest place/way of getting food. This is especially noticeable when they are used in flying displays, where food is used to reward the birds as they perform. Some have been known that they need not fly to where they are direct as they will only be asked to fly back again. Shrewd to say the least.

Advertisement