Home › Volumes › Bird Homes › Open Nests in Woods, Thickets, Swampy Thickets
Black Vulture — Part 2
Adult--Black; the head and neck black, and bare of feathers.
Breeding Range--North Carolina and the lower Mississippi Valley, southward.
The nest, of which there is but a trace, is placed on the ground beneath scrubby growth, in hollow prostrate logs, on stumps, or among rocks. 2 or 3, usually 2 eggs, are laid; they vary greatly in colour; the average is dull white or pale blue, rather heavily spotted and blotched with dark brown and chocolate of various shades. Size--3.00 x 2.00.
The Black Vulture resembles in general characteristics its near relation the turkey buzzard, but it is not as common inland. The nesting habits of both species are very similar. These birds usually make a path to their nests, along which they jump in an awkward manner. The male assists in the tedious duty of incubating, which occupies about twenty-eight or thirty days.
The breeding season commences about the end of February or the beginning of March.