V is for Vultures (photo essay for Zoomit)

V is for vultures....

The Detroit Zoo (in Royal Oak, Michigan) has a large group of Old World vultures such as Lappet-faced, Griffon, Hooded, and Cinereous. Vultures serve an important role in nature's food chain and many species have been experiencing significant population declines in many areas of the world. Factors affecting this decline include increased agriculture in their habitat, loss of prey, and ingesting poison from carcasses intended for other predators and from by-products in antibiotics fed to domestic livestock. The Detroit Zoo has successfully raised offspring from many of our old world vultures. Personally, I find the vultures very neat to watch...

Wild vultures also come to the zoo in the winter to hang out....and this one better watch out, since he decided to hang out in the polar bear exhibit.

One more close up before he flew deeper in to the exhibit... He's a Lappet-faced vulture (I think).

I think the one in the middle is a Cinereous vulture.....and the one on the left is a hooded vulture.

He reminds me of one of the vultures in Disney's Jungle Book...

"Whatcha want to do?" 

"I don't know. What do you wanna do?"

I think these are the Griffon Vultures.

I think he also is a Cinereous vulture.....

Now I'm not a vulture expert, but I think these are labled correctly.....I hope you enjoyed the photos of what most people consider "Ugly" birds.