King vulture - beauty or beast

King vulture as photographed at the National Aviary of Colombia.

 The photo above is of a King vulture; I took it while visiting the National Aviary of Colombia yesterday.  The vultures I am familiar with include the turkey vulture, which we have in Canada, and the black vulture, which is found in and south of Texas latitudes.  By comparison, the king vulture is beautiful.

That beauty could easily be undermined if you happened to see one with its head deep inside the bowels of some recently dispatched animal.  And it's not like you would have one in your home; its 6 foot wingspan would likely be a nuisance, especially with its hurricane-force winds when beaten.  And it could be very unhappy once you are all out of carrion.  There's nothing more compelling to go shopping than a very large bird looking at you as if you'd be a pleasant snack.

I suppose that you could say it is a pretty bird, from the neck up, as long as it wasn't covered in entrails.  I can imagine a 16x20 inch print displayed on my wall at home.  Visitors may proclaim, "My, that's a pretty bird."  And in that circumstance, they'd be right.

Another creature that may consider the bird pretty is its mate.  Not that it would put such thoughts into words, or even loud-sounding grunts and hisses.  Rather, they would mate, lay a single egg, and raise a young chick together.  And I don't doubt that the developing chick would share that same sentiment in some appreciative manner.  It might say to another vulture, "My mom's prettier than your mom."  And it would be right, especially if that vulture was a black or turkey one.

Yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as long as that beholder is another vulture.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com