I watched these two birds for about 10 minutes in southern Mexico. Both are carrion eaters and apparently they groom each other. I have seen Black Vultures groom each other, but have never seen two different species engaging in this behavior. This is one of a series of pictures I took displaying the behavior.
...really interesting behavior...
I've encountered this behavior here in Texas.
rwilson1942 wrote:
I've encountered this behavior here in Texas.
I will be coming to Mission, TX for a couple of months early in 2020. Anxious to see some of your Texas birds and maybe similar behaviors or poses.
Awesome capture. I would have never expected that. I hope they don't breed, that would make a really odd looking bird!
Dalek
Loc: Detroit, Miami, Goffstown
Genetics...the black vulture may be 47% caracara and vice versa
Nalu
Loc: Southern Arizona
That is really interesting behavior but to me very surprising. Preening amount different individuals of the same species is guess in not too unusual and usually indicates some type of social behavior. But preening between different species I suspect is highly unusual. I'm wondering whether the Vulture is going after some parasite or something on the Caracara. I have no clue what is really going on. Perhaps there are some animal behaviorists on this blog who can shed some light.
Fun photo, thanks.
Thank you everyone for the comments. One other thing that I found unusual about this situation is the lack of other Black Vultures in the area. Usually when I see one BV, I see a bunch of them. These were the only 2 birds in the area.
Nalu
Loc: Southern Arizona
This is a quote from Wikipedia provided by a biologist/ornithologist/bird photograph who has a bird photography blog I follow:
“In most cases, allopreening involves members of the same species, although some cases of interspecific allopreening are known; the vast majority of these involve icterids, though at least one instance of mutual grooming between a black vulture and a crested caracara has been documented.”
Seems like you have captured some pretty unusual behavior and there may be those who would be interested in seeing this documentation of this behavior. You may want to provide the Audubon Society. It may be of value to some so I would be careful to protect the image if you feel like it.
Nalu wrote:
This is a quote from Wikipedia provided by a biologist/ornithologist/bird photograph who has a bird photography blog I follow:
“In most cases, allopreening involves members of the same species, although some cases of interspecific allopreening are known; the vast majority of these involve icterids, though at least one instance of mutual grooming between a black vulture and a crested caracara has been documented.”
Seems like you have captured some pretty unusual behavior and there may be those who would be interested in seeing this documentation of this behavior. You may want to provide the Audubon Society. It may be of value to some so I would be careful to protect the image if you feel like it.
This is a quote from Wikipedia provided by a biolo... (
show quote)
Thank you for that information. Yes, I will send that into Audubon. I have a series of photos over about 5' that depict the ongoing behavior.
seems they like each other nice catch
If you want to reply, then
register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.