Black vulture

Coragyps atratus

The Black vulture (Coragyps atratus) is a bird found in United States, Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil and Mexico. Open land and forests from the US down to Chile. It eats dead animals (carrion), small mammals and birds and reptiles and frogs. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

See the Black vulture on the 3D globe →

Scientific name	Coragyps atratus
Region	North America
Found in	United States, Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil and Mexico

🏡 Where the Black vulture lives

Open land and forests from the US down to Chile.

🍽️ What it eats

🦴 Leftovers (carrion)70%
🐭 Mammals & birds10%
🦎 Reptiles & frogs10%
🐟 Fish10%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

LCNTVUENCREWEX

Least ConcernThere are plenty of these birds.

💡 Black vultures clean up the countryside by eating dead animals.

Hear the Black vulture

Recorded by GABRIEL LEITE (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC327288. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Black vulture

Where does the Black vulture live?

The Black vulture lives in United States, Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil and Mexico. Open land and forests from the US down to Chile.

What does the Black vulture eat?

dead animals (carrion) (about 70%), small mammals and birds (about 10%), reptiles and frogs (about 10%), fish (about 10%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Black vulture endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from North America

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.