Free Teacher Resources
A king vulture with black and white wings and a colorful head soaring against a blue sky.
Photo: Renato Augusto Martins, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

King Vulture

Sarcoramphus papa

A large black-and-white vulture of tropical forests from Mexico to Argentina with a brightly colored head.

🦅 Birds of Prey
Checking teacher reviews…
Teacher? Sign in to review this page →Report a mistake

About the King Vulture

King vultures live from southern Mexico to northern Argentina, usually over lowland rainforests and sometimes savannas. Their wings can stretch nearly 80 inches, letting them soar for a long time without flapping. They are scavengers that eat only dead animals. Because they are big and strong, they can tear open tough hides that smaller vultures can't, which helps the smaller vultures eat too.[1]

Quick facts

Scientific name
Sarcoramphus papa[1]
Size
Wingspan up to nearly 80 inches.[1]
Diet
Scavenger. Only eats animals that are already dead.[1]
Habitat
Mostly rainforests, plus secondary forests and savannas, usually below 1,000 m.[1]
Where it lives
Southern Mexico to northern Argentina.[1]
Group life
Pairs raise their young together. Gathers with other vultures only at carcasses.[1]
Babies
One egg, laid in a rock crevice or rotting tree stump.[1]
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN Red List, assessed 2016).[2]

Fun facts

  • King vultures find food by watching where smaller vultures gather.[1]
  • They're the largest New World vultures except for the two condors.[1]
  • A king vulture's colorful head helps it signal to its mate.[1]

Vocabulary

scavenger
An animal that feeds on dead animals or leftover food.
carcass
The body of a dead animal.
convergent evolution
When unrelated animals become alike because they live in similar ways.
New World
North, Central and South America.
soar
To fly high without flapping, riding on moving air.

See it in person

Sources

  1. [1] Zoo Atlanta. “King Vulture.” https://zooatlanta.org/animal/king-vulture/ (accessed 2026-10-02)
  2. [2] IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. “Sarcoramphus papa (King Vulture).” https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22697645/93627003 (accessed 2026-10-02)

Facts last checked 2026-10-02.

More Birds of Prey

An Andean condor with black and white wings and a white neck ruff perched on a rock.Andean CondorVultur gryphusA huge vulture of the Andes Mountains with a wingspan of about 3.2 meters, the longest of any land bird.A bald eagle with its wings raised, about to take off from a tree stump in Alaska.Bald EagleHaliaeetus leucocephalusThe national bird of the United States, a fish-eating eagle that came back from the edge of extinction.A dark brown Harris's hawk with rusty shoulders perched on a branch.Harris's HawkParabuteo unicinctusA dark brown hawk of the Americas' dry lands, nicknamed the "wolf of the sky" because family groups hunt together.A lappet-faced vulture with a bare pink head and dark brown feathers standing in grass.Lappet-Faced VultureTorgos tracheliotosAfrica's largest vulture, an endangered scavenger whose strong beak opens carcasses for other vultures.A brown milky eagle owl perched on rocks above water.Milky Eagle OwlBubo lacteusOne of the world's larger owls, also called Verreaux's eagle-owl, with bare pink eyelids that show when it blinks.