The reproductive behaviour of the king vulture in the wild is poorly known, and much knowledge has been gained from observing birds in captivity, particularly at the Paris Menagerie.
An adult king vulture sexually matures when it is about four or five years old, with females maturing slightly earlier than males.
The birds mainly breed during the dry season.
A king vulture mates for life and generally lays a single unmarked white egg in its nest in a hollow in a tree.
To ward off potential predators, the vultures keep their nests foul-smelling.
Both parents incubate the egg for the 52 to 58 days before it hatches.
If the egg is lost, it will often be replaced after about six weeks.
The parents share incubating and brooding duties until the chick is about a week old, after which they often stand guard rather than brood.
The young are semi-altricial—they are helpless when born but are covered in downy feathers (truly altricial birds are born naked), and their eyes are open at birth.
Developing quickly, the chicks are fully alert by their second day, and able to beg and wriggle around the nest, and preen themselves and peck by their third day.
They start growing their second coat of white down by day 10, and stand on their toes by day 20.
From one to three months of age, chicks walk around and explore the vicinity of the nest, and take their first flights at about three months of age.
The reproductive behaviour of the king vulture in the wild is poorly known, and much knowledge has been gained from observing birds in captivity, particularly at the Paris Menagerie. An adult king vulture sexually matures when it is about four or five years old, with females maturing slightly earlier than males. The birds mainly breed during the dry season. A king vulture mates for life and generally lays a single unmarked white egg in its nest in a hollow in a tree. To ward off potential predators, the vultures keep their nests foul-smelling. Both parents incubate the egg for the 52 to 58 days before it hatches. If the egg is lost, it will often be replaced after about six weeks. The parents share incubating and brooding duties until the chick is about a week old, after which they often stand guard rather than brood. The young are semi-altricial—they are helpless when born but are covered in downy feathers (truly altricial birds are born naked), and their eyes are open at birth. Developing quickly, the chicks are fully alert by their second day, and able to beg and wriggle around the nest, and preen themselves and peck by their third day. They start growing their second coat of white down by day 10, and stand on their toes by day 20. From one to three months of age, chicks walk around and explore the vicinity of the nest, and take their first flights at about three months of age.
King vulture