King Vulture

Sarcoramphus papa

eBird offers this descriptive information about the King Vulture:  Uncommon, large, and spectacular bird of lowland tropical forest, mainly in wilder areas and not around human habitation. Most often seen soaring overhead in mid-late morning, often fairly high up with kettles of Black Vultures; rarely seen perched. Striking adult has a colorful head and neck, piercing white eyes, and mostly white plumage with a black trailing edge to the wings and tail. Immature is blackish overall and lacks the white wing markings of the smaller Black Vulture. Immature develops adult plumage over a few years with white appearing first on the belly and the underside of the wings.

I was fortunate to see and photograph this rare bird on my last full day at Black Rock Lodge.  My young guide Jeffry was able to spot this bird flying with a small group of Black Vultures, and I was able to get some photos of the bird in flight.  Here are a few of my photos.  (I stayed three nights at Black Rock Lodge on my own, since my group from The Texas Ornithological Society had to cut our trip to Belize short due to complications with Tropical Storm Sara.)