Where does the black neck live? We learn!

The black vulture (Latin Aegypius monachus) belongs to the Hawk family. This is a fairly large predatory bird weighing about 12 kilograms. Eats, mainly, carrion, and therefore received the name of a natural orderly. In the area where the black vulture lives, there will never be an epizootic of an infectious disease.

Long wide wings have a span of up to 2.5 meters, which allows the bird to float long and smoothly in the sky above the sky in search of prey. The large head and strong neck are covered with short fluff, which helps to avoid contamination during meals.

Bird of prey - black griffin

The beak is large, massive, slightly flattened at the sides, well suited for carcass cutting of animals and birds. It is colored brown-yellow, in young specimens it is black. Paws of gray color dense, low, with blunt claws. The legs are rather weak and unable to hold weights. The color of adult individuals is brown, in the lower part of the neck a necklace is clearly visible in the form of pointed light feathers. Young birds are painted black.

Where does the black neck live?

Now we will answer this question in detail. The area where the black vulture lives is mountainous areas and flat spaces with sparse forests. The habitat extends to the north of Africa, the southern part of Europe, all Asian territory to the easternmost regions of mountainous China.

In general, birds lead a sedentary life, but some types of vultures wander widely in the winter in search of food, reaching the Japanese islands. Features of feeding of birds of prey do not allow them to eat frozen meat, therefore, where the black vulture lives, a warm climate. For the winter, birds of prey move to the southern regions, where they live from October to March.

The breeding season lasts about six months, beginning in January. Vultures often settle in separate pairs. Taking care of the female, the male makes incredible pirouettes in the air. He carries the bride into joint hovering flights and chasing each other. Choosing a friend, the male arranges marriage games on the ground.

Nesting places

The places where the black vulture lives and grows its offspring are quite secluded. For laying eggs, couples use tree hollows, depressions under driftwood, shallow caves, emptiness formed from twisted trees. Nesting places can also be located in crevices of abandoned houses, agricultural buildings, in cracks in rocks. Nests are built from dry branches, lining the bottom with thin branches, grass, animal hair. The diameter of the nest can reach two meters and weigh a centner. A favored place for growing offspring a married couple can use repeatedly.

Reproduction

Female black vulture lays one or two large eggs, variegated with brown spots. The pair is engaged in hatching the chicks together, taking turns flying away in search of food. Approximately in forty days from the eggs there are nestlings covered with gentle down. Babies are born completely helpless and require a vigilant attention of their parents. Food intended for children, vultures are swallowed in large pieces, and then belch them into the nest.

Two months later the fluff on the chick's body changes to black plumage. After four months the cubs of black vultures become completely independent. Unfortunately, up to the adult age less than half of the newborn chicks survive. In zoos in the world, where the black-fingered bird lives, it is possible to significantly increase the survival rate. The maximum age of predators is fifty years.

If there is no carrion nearby, the vultures can attack young animals, pecking their eyes or stealing small nestlings from foreign nests.

Hunting

For hunting, birds of prey are sent early in the morning. They spend a long time hovering in the sky, looking for prey. Vultures rise so high that they turn into a small black dot. But the sharp eye of a bird of prey is able to see everything that happens on earth. It is necessary to him to find out a flock of swarming crows, term or kites, as it immediately becomes clear that there is something to profit.

Having folded its wings and paws, the black vulture falls down on the prey, instantly dispersing enemies from it. To the lucky hunter, rivals can immediately rush, who try to wrest their piece of trophy, make a noise and fight. Saturated birds fly away near the feast and watch their relatives. Vultures are able to eat so tightly that they hardly rise into the air.

Causes of extinction

Over the past couple of decades, the number of birds of prey in the world has significantly diminished. The reason for this is a number of objective circumstances.

In places of constant wintering, severe winters with heavy snowfalls occurred for several years in a row, which created difficulties in obtaining feed. Livestock farms practically do not allow the mass death of animals. And in cases of a single case, the corpses are reliably disposed of. In addition, many animal farms and farms for breeding small animals (mink, sable) significantly reduced their livestock or completely shut down the enterprises.

These circumstances immediately had a negative effect on the situation of wintering vultures. From hunger, many birds became exhausted and lost the ability to fly. Cases of eating dead relatives have been noted, which is an abnormal phenomenon. Birds who settled in the urban environment, emboldened and began to look for food in public landfills. Moreover, they ceased to fear people, which became an additional factor that increases the mortality of valuable birds from the hands of man. It also added the lack of control over human actions related to hunting for vultures, the ruin of their nests, the device of traps with poisoned bait.

The bird of prey is listed in the Russian Red Data Book, as well as in Appendix II to the CITES International Convention.

If you do not stop the process of mass death of a bird, then soon the person will forget about who is the black vulture, whose photo will remain in the textbooks as a reminder of the lost population of useful birds of prey.