Urubu - Black Vultures

Urubu are the Sanitary Engineers of Brasil! They can be seen soaring over the farms and mountain tops looking for a tasty meal. I can see them every day from our verandah over the mountain near our house in Águas da Prata.

It is difficult to photograph them soaring because in the pictures they just look like dots against a vast sky. They are wonderful to watch riding the updrafts over the mountain. They can soar for a very long time without flapping their wings.

These are Falconiformes, Cathartidae (new World Vultures) or Black Vultures. They used to be more than welcome in South America because they and others of the specie cleared away all decaying matter thus helping to spread of disease.





We were out on a country road and came across these Urubu having a tasty meal on the side of the road. There were about 25 of them. We saw them on the way to visit a farm and five hours later, when we returned, they were still there so we stopped and took these photos.

They are all black so they don't photograph well and it was late in the day so they look like silhouettes against the sky. Some were one the ground and the rest were in about 8 trees waiting their turn.




Most were up in the trees.


































Here are a couple sky photos near our house




These are difficult photos, particularly on a bright sunny day.




Photos by Urso Branco