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, though some believe that William Bartram's Painted Vulture of Florida may be of this species.
The King Vulture has a very noticeable yellow 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.
The bird was also assigned to the genus Gyparchus by Constantin Wilhelm Lambert Gloger in 1841, but this classification is not used in modern literature since Sarcoramphus has priority as the earlier name.[5] The species name is derived from Latin word papa "bishop", alluding the bird's plumage resembling the clothing of one. The King Vulture's closest living relative is the Andean Condor, Vultur gryphus Some authors have even put these species in a separate subfamily from the other New World vultures, though most authors consider this subdivision unnecessary.
The genus Sarcoramphus, which today contains only the King Vulture, had a wider distribution in the past. The Kern Vulture (Sarcoramphus kernense), lived in southwestern North America during the mid-Pliocene (Piacenzian), some 3.5–2.5 million years ago). It was a little-known component of the Blancan/Delmontian faunal stages. The only material is a broken distal humerus fossil, found at Pozo Creek, Kern County, California. As per Loye H. Miller's original description, "[c]ompared with [S. papa] the type conforms in general form and curvature except for its greater size and robustness."
Bartram describes the bird as being relatively common and even claimed to have collected one. However, no other naturalists record the Painted Vulture in Florida and sixty years after the sighting its validity began to be questioned, leading to what John Cassin described as the most inviting problem in North American ornithology.
In stark contrast, the wing coverts, flight feathers and tail are dark grey to black, as is the prominent thick neck ruff. The head and neck are devoid of feathers, the skin shades of red and purple on the head, vivid orange on the neck and yellow on the throat. On the head, the skin is wrinkled and folded, and there is a highly noticeable irregular golden crest attached on the cere above its orange and black bill;
The King Vulture inhabits an estimated 14 million km2 (5.4 million mi2) between southern Mexico and northern Argentina. In South America, it does not live west of the Ande except in western Ecuador, north-western Colombia and far north-western Venezuela. It primarily inhabits undisturbed tropical lowland forests as well as savannas and grasslands with these forests nearby.
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