The pika is a small-sized mammal that is found across the Northern Hemisphere. Despite their rodent-like appearance, pikas are actually closely related to rabbits and hares. Pikas are most commonly identified by their small, rounded body and lack of tail. (Source)
so vultures are split into two groups that aren’t really related, Old World (family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles ‘n stuff) and New World (family Cathartidae) – ‘old world’ refers to basically every continent Europeans knew about before they knew about the Americas
not to be confused with Aladdin’s whole “new world” which looks like this
and those ^ birds are most def. not a species I can identify due to their weird flying formation and non-aerodynamic posture, like a mashup b/t a heron and an egret? but not quite? tuck those necks in boys
anyway whatever this post is about vultures
there are 22 species of vultures and they’re found on every continent except Australia and Antarctica, bummer for those places because vultures are awesome. according to a paper that came out in June, out of the 22 species of vultures “nine are critically endangered, three are endangered, four are near threatened, and six are least concern,” meaning most are in need of protection, conservation and advocacy. like this guy, the California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus):
the California Condor can’t help that it has a head like a human scrotum – it took placing the last 27 living members of its kind in captivity and creating breeding and conservation programs before they could be reintroduced in the wild.
vultures are portrayed as nasty, dirty birds but that’s really not correct nor fair – they play a super important role as scavengers, cleaning up every other animal’s mess and preventing the spread of diseases.
like this turkey vulture eating a gull in a parking lot in California, it’s not like you were going to pick that up were you? no you can’t, that’s the turkey vulture’s job, don’t put them out of work
some of them eat lots of fruits and nuts, like this palm nut vulture (Gypohierax angolensis) – this cute booger is eating upside-down
and bearded vultures (Gypaetus barbatus) are basically dragons, or the David Bowie of raptors
vultures are wicked smart too, see: TOOL USE. check out how this Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) uses a rock to crack open a tough egg
so next time someone says “ew vultures are gross” just tell them
Eurasian Black Vulture (Aegypius monachus) doesn’t have time for ill-informed comments
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