King Vulture
Where and when to see the King Vulture
DraftOn the Yucatán Peninsula
It lives over tall, well-preserved forest in the south of the peninsula, mostly in Campeche and Quintana Roo; in Yucatán state it is rare. Look up: it soars for hours with hardly a wingbeat, and when perched it hides high in the trees.
Where it’s reported most
- CalakmulCalakmul, Campeche
- Becán and XpujilCalakmul, Campeche
- Ruta de los CenotesPuerto Morelos, Quintana Roo
When
All year · most reports May–Jul
Most reports from May to July.
Reports relative to effort
- January: 76%
- February: 86%
- March: 65%
- April: 63%
- May: 80%
- June: 82%
- July: 100%
- August: 56%
- September: 80%
- October: 42%
- November: 65%
- December: 72%
Data: eBird and other datasets via GBIF.org (CC BY 4.0), 2015–2025 · Base map: Natural Earth
Rides high over unbroken lowland forest. Common enough to seem safe, but it follows the canopy and thins out quietly wherever the canopy does.
- Identification
- A big vulture, creamy white with black flight feathers, a black tail and a dark grey neck ruff. The bare head and neck are folded and coloured purple, red, orange and yellow, with an orange knob above the bill and white eyes.
- Voice
- Usually silent: like all New World vultures it has no voice box. It makes low croaks, wheezes and snorts when courting, and snaps its bill when threatened.
What the photo doesn’t show
DraftColours that take years
Young birds are all dark and take about four years to gain the white plumage and coloured head of the adult. Until then they can pass for Turkey Vultures, but they soar on flat wings. 1,2
The first cut
Its heavy, hooked bill tears through hides that smaller vultures can’t open, so it often makes the first cut and then takes over the carcass. It seems to have a poor sense of smell and is thought to follow other vultures, such as the Turkey Vulture, to food. 1,3
Drawn in the codices
Vultures are among the birds drawn most often in the Maya codices. The king is told apart from the Black Vulture by the knob on its bill and rings around its eye, and in one scene it faces an Ocellated Turkey with their necks intertwined. 4
No forest, no king
The main threat is forest cleared for crops and cattle: it feeds in open country too, but it needs large patches of mature forest. 5
Sources
- Birds of the World (Cornell Lab): King Vulture (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: King vulture (opens in a new tab)
- Animal Diversity Web: Sarcoramphus papa (opens in a new tab)
- Tozzer & Allen 1910: Animal Figures in the Maya Codices (opens in a new tab)
- BirdLife International, Data Zone: King Vulture (opens in a new tab)
- DOF, 14/11/2019: NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010, Anexo III (opens in a new tab)
Map and months: 646 records from 2015–2025 from eBird, iNaturalist, and others, via GBIF.org (CC BY 4.0), in 0.1° squares (about 10 km). eBird: doi.org/10.15468/aomfnb.
Months: the species’ records ÷ all bird records that month, scaled to the busiest month. It allows for birding effort; it is not the chance of seeing it. A blank square: few or no reports, not necessarily absent.
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