Black vulture: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the black vulture lives – recorded in 25 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Coragyps atratus
Group	Birds of prey
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	25 countries
Continents	North America, South America
Class	Bird
Order	Accipitriformes
Family	Cathartidae

Where does the black vulture live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the black vulture in 25 countries and territories across North America and South America. Wikidata gives its range as: Belém, Brazil, South America.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the black vulture endangered?

The black vulture’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the black vulture?

The black vulture (Coragyps atratus) is a bird in the order Accipitriformes and the family Cathartidae, genus Coragyps. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the black vulture

The black vulture (Coragyps atratus), also known as the American black vulture, Mexican vulture, zopilote, urubu, or gallinazo, is a bird in the New World vulture family whose range extends from the northeastern United States to Peru, Central Chile and Uruguay in South America, and common throughout Brazil where it can be seen in large scavenging groups. Although a common and widespread species, it has a somewhat more restricted distribution than its compatriot, the turkey vulture, which breeds well into Canada and all the way south to Tierra del Fuego. It is the only extant member of the genus Coragyps, which is in the family Cathartidae. Despite the similar name and appearance, this species is not closely related to the Eurasian black vulture, an Old World vulture, of the family Accipitridae (which includes raptors like the eagles, hawks, kites, and harriers). For ease of locating animal corpses (their primary source of sustenance), black vultures tend to inhabit relatively open areas with scattered trees, such as chaparral, in addition to subtropical forested areas and parts of the Brazilian pantanal.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Black vulture (revision 1380656414), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q213366 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).