What is it, the largest bird of prey? What is it called, where does it live? What are the characteristics of her behavior? These questions will be answered below. The article will provide comprehensive information about which bird is the largest of the predators.
First information
Science knows many birds of prey, including quite large ones. But only one of them is a recognized champion among birds. According to scientists, the Andean condor surpasses all of them in its size. About its features, habitat, lifestyle and, of course, size, will be discussed in the article.
The Andean condor (in Latin its name sounds like Vultur gryphus) lives in South America. For the first time this giant, respectful bird was described by a Spanish historian, priest and geographer named Pedro Cieza de Leon in his book Chronicle of Peru. Europeans, when they first saw these majestic creatures, were shocked not only by their size, but also by their ability to rise to great heights. Travelers noted that sometimes only by soaring high insky, at an altitude of several thousand meters, the condor could be judged by the presence of life in the area.
Name history
The bird owes its name to the Quechua tribe, in whose language it sounded like Cuntur (kúntur). This information is contained in a dictionary of this dialect published in 1607.
In science, the bird was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his famous work "The System of Nature", the 10th edition of which took place in 1758. Thanks to this scientist, the condor got its modern Latin name. Vultur is Latin for vulture.
Regarding the modern taxonomy of this bird, scientists have no consensus. Some tend to place the Andean condor and six other similar species in the same family called the American vultures. However, other scientists do not agree with this opinion, arguing that all six species are not related to each other, but have only an external resemblance and a similar habitat. In fact, they came from completely different, sometimes very distant ancestors. Therefore, there are different opinions about which order and family this largest bird of prey in the world should be included in. So, other researchers classify it as a group of Falconiformes, and still others - Storks. Officially, while the status of the largest bird of prey on the planet remains uncertain.
Resettlement area
As the name of the bird implies, the Andean condor lives in South America, in the Andes, in Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Argentina and Ecuador. On thein the north it is mainly the upper mountain belt, alpine plains (3000-5000 meters above sea level), in the south - foothills. The birds have taken a fancy to flat-mountainous places, overgrown with grass and low stunted trees, the so-called paramo, located between the levels of forests and snows. They have many lakes. The extreme point of the feathered range in the south is Tierra del Fuego.
Description
Andean condors have an expressive black and white coloration. At the same time, only the fluffy collar on the neck and the tips of long flight feathers remain white. The main color of the bird is black, shiny.
On her head, like all scavengers, there are no feathers. The skin can have various shades, from pink to brown. The sharp hooked beak is well suited for tearing food. Legs are dark grey. Unlike many other predators, Andean condors cannot strike the enemy with their paws and raise prey in their claws - their legs are weak for this.
The eyes of males are brown, females are dark red. The main decoration of males is a fleshy comb of dark red color. Young birds have lighter plumage - brown, not black, but darker skin on the head.
Lifestyle
The Andean condor is a carrion predator, and this fact determines its whole way of life. In search of food, birds can soar above the ground for hours, only occasionally resting. According to the observations of scientists, in half an hour of flight, a bird may never flap its wings, adhering to warm air currents. This style of flight is associated with structural featurescondor body. He has rather weak pectoral muscles and a small chest bone. It is difficult for birds to take off from the ground, so they rest mainly on rocks so that they can take off from them without gaining height. In search of food, condors can travel up to 200 kilometers a day.
They feed on the remains of predatory animals, as well as marine mammals and fish washed ashore. They can destroy bird nests. To search for food, they use their extremely sharp eyesight. They can observe the behavior of other birds, using their "tips". Near the carcass of the animal, the condor remains as long as possible. He cannot carry food with him in his claws due to the structural features of his legs, and if he flies away, they will eat it without him. Although the number of Andean condors is small, there are many other scavengers in nature that compete with them. According to scientists, condors can eat several kilograms of food at a time, and then it can be difficult for them to take to the air.
Reproduction
Andean condor lives up to 50 years, and during all this time does not change the pair. Bird nests are arranged on rocks, in hard-to-reach places. The female lays one, less often two eggs in a rock depression covered with twigs, in February-March. Both parents incubate them in turn for 54-58 days. If an egg is stolen or broken, the female lays another one.
Andean condors usually breed once every two years. The ritual behavior of the male is interesting: he performs in front of the selected femalea kind of dance, hissing and bouncing in place.
Hatched chicks are covered not with feathers, but with thick gray fluff. Parents feed them with partially digested carrion, which is regurgitated from the stomach. Feathers in the young generation grow when the chicks reach the size of adult condors. They learn to fly from the age of six months. They usually stay with their parents for up to two years until they start a new breeding cycle.
Sizes
Finally, it's time to talk about the size of the Andean condor. The largest bird of prey on Earth is truly impressive. It weighs up to 15 kilograms. The wingspan of the predator is up to 310 centimeters. These figures make the Andean condor unique, a true champion among birds of prey.
Despite the fact that the length of its body from the beak to the tip of the tail is on average five centimeters shorter than that of its closest relative, the California condor, no one can compare with it in terms of wingspan.
