Black Vulture

An individual from the Caatinga in Paraíba. New World vultures are not monophyletic with their Old World counterparts, in fact their similarities are due to convergent evolution. The Black Vulture in particular is the sole member of its genus. It has a wide distribution across temperate and tropical America, ranging from SE USA all the way south to the Southern Cone. Though it usually feeds on carrion, sometimes it does kill newborn cattle, reason for which it is sometimes persecuted.