General Description: Black Vultures (Coragyps atratus) are large soaring birds with wing spans to about 6 feet. Adult Black Vultures are black overall except for white in the wing tips and white legs. Black Vultures are social creatures, and large numbers can often be found together.

Taxonomy: Accipitriformes, Cathartidae.

Favored Habitat: Open skies, cliffs, and places to find lots of dead cows.

Taxonomy: Accipitriformes, Cathartidae (vultures)

Where to Find: These are birds of the open skies, but don't look for them around Las Vegas. Rather, look for them across the southern US from Texas to the mid-Atlantic states and south into South America. Recently, however, these birds have been moving northward in western Arizona, so do keep an eye out for them in southern Nevada.

Comments: At close range, notice the black, naked (no feathers) head and white feet. The lack of feathers on the head is an adaptation to keeping one's head clean when sticking it into deep, nasty places (e.g., into the belly of dead, rotting cows). The white on the feet is dried uric acid (dried urine); vultures urinate on their feet to help cool themselves on hot days.