King vulture: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the king vulture lives – recorded in 19 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Sarcoramphus papa
Group	Birds of prey
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	19 countries
Continents	North America, South America
Class	Bird
Order	Accipitriformes
Family	Cathartidae

Where does the king vulture live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the king vulture in 19 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 king vulture endangered?

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

What kind of animal is the king vulture?

The king vulture (Sarcoramphus papa) is a bird in the order Accipitriformes and the family Cathartidae, genus Sarcoramphus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the king vulture

The king vulture (Sarcoramphus papa) is a large bird found in Central and South America. It is a member of the New World vulture family Cathartidae. This vulture lives predominantly in tropical lowland forests stretching from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. It is the only surviving member of the genus Sarcoramphus, although fossil members are known.

Large and predominantly white, the king vulture has gray to black ruff, flight, and tail feathers. The head and neck are bald, with the skin color varying, including yellow, orange, blue, purple, and red. The king vulture has a noticeable orange fleshy caruncle on its beak. This vulture is a scavenger and it often makes the initial cut into a fresh carcass. It also displaces smaller New World vulture species from a carcass. King vultures have been known to live for up to 30 years in captivity.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article King vulture (revision 1354935888), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q192705 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).