Encounter with a vulture
This is a close up of a vulture that came really close to the boundary of the enclosure that they are kept in at the San Diego Zoo. Surprisingly they don’t look that intimidating from a distance, they are like a hybrid of Flamengos/Ostriches that can fly! This young vulture came really close and I got to zoom in and see how rugged they really are, those beaks sure can shred through flesh like a razor sharp knife. BTW, I could tell he was a young vulture by his roughly round & dark head. As humans age, their hair turns grey and for some of us it starts to shed ;-), for vultures their skull starts to turn more red and will lose its round shape. For this particular fellow, you can see how a bump is starting to form on top of his head. Here is another shot of the same guy in what looks like him looking right at me :
Beautiful photo.
March 12, 2012 at 7:48 am
Thank you Ali π
March 12, 2012 at 8:20 am
Fierce looking chap! And interesting facts. π
March 12, 2012 at 8:38 am
wow! Fantastic captures. π
March 12, 2012 at 10:48 am
Terrific shots. Wonderful DoF. That beak does look nasty.
March 12, 2012 at 11:38 am
She’s (I hope that’s a she) one stunning creature.
March 12, 2012 at 5:15 pm
Its beak looks like that of a California Condor, a juvenile. Were you at the condor exhibit?
March 13, 2012 at 12:55 pm
Beautiful photo!
March 13, 2012 at 6:46 pm
Thank you π
March 13, 2012 at 8:57 pm
that is the coolest.. ; )
March 14, 2012 at 10:12 am
Really nice, a vulture with personality. They seem to look better here when they’re younger.
March 24, 2012 at 2:51 pm
But when they get older they look mean which they should, since they eat flesh π
March 25, 2012 at 5:45 am