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Concept
Lesser yellow-headed vulture
Summary
The lesser yellow-headed vulture (Cathartes burrovianus) also known as the savannah vulture, is a species of bird in the New World vulture family Cathartidae. It was considered to be the same species as the greater yellow-headed vulture until they were split in 1964. It is found in Mexico, Central America, and South America in seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, swamps, and heavily degraded former forest. It is a large bird, with a wingspan of . The body plumage is black, and the head and neck, which are featherless, are pale orange with red or blue areas. It lacks a syrinx, so therefore its vocalizations are limited to grunts or low hisses.
The lesser yellow-headed vulture feeds on carrion and locates carcasses by sight and by smell, an ability which is rare in birds. It is dependent on larger vultures, such as the king vulture, to open the hides of larger animal carcasses as its bill is not strong enough to do this. Like other New World vultures, the lesser yellow-headed vulture utilizes thermals to stay aloft with minimal effort. It lays its eggs on flat surfaces, such as the floors of caves, or in the hollows of stumps. It feeds its young by regurgitation.
The lesser yellow-headed vulture was first described in 1845 by John Cassin. It is sometimes recognized as having two subspecies. The first, Cathartes burrovianus urubitinga, described by Austrian ornithologist August von Pelzeln in 1851, is the larger of the two and is found from Argentina north to Colombia, while the nominate subspecies, Cathartes burrovianus burrovianus, is smaller and found from northwestern South America through Central America to Mexico. The lesser yellow-headed vulture's genus, Cathartes, means "purifier" and is from the Latinized form of the Greek kathartēs/καθαρτης. The common name, vulture, is derived from the Latin word vulturus, which means "tearer" and is a reference to its feeding habits.
The exact taxonomic placement of the lesser yellow-headed vulture and the remaining six species of New World vultures remains unclear.
Official source
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