vultures - social interaction
about vultures and how they interact in the wild.
vultures are primarily solitary creatures, however occasionally they will come together to feast upon larger dead creatures, such as rain deer. I've even observed a flock of vultures consuming a beached leviathan before.
- - -
despite the name, king vultures are not higher in any social hierarchy than any other vulture, and are in fact a seperate species to lesser vultures entirely.
they were named after the triangle on their mask's forehead, which resembles how - in the Ancients' writings - a downwards triangle above a symbol indicated royalty or importance.
it was originally placed on their masks for the latter meaning as a notice of their important deliveries, as vultures were originally used for item transport.
anyways, thats a note for later.
- - -
an exception to their usually solo nature, vultures who have mated will stick together until their chicks are old enough to leave the nest.
each vulture will take turns between guarding the nest and resting, and hunting for food for themself, their mate, and their chicks.
however, once the chicks are old enough, the mated vultures will part ways and likely never meet again.
- - -
masked vultures will relentlessly harass and even kill those who have lost their masks. i'm unsure of the exact reason, but perhaps they recognise others via the shape of the mask, and therefore percieve maskless vultures as prey?
i've been studying this behavior for a while, and i'm yet to come to a solid conclusion.