# Black vulture (*Coragyps atratus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-vulture  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The black vulture (Coragyps atratus) is a bird of prey in the family Cathartidae and the order Accipitriformes. It is a medium-sized bird with a representative adult body mass of 1.88 kg, up to 2.1 kg, and a wingspan of 1.83 m. Its diet category is scavenger, it lives on human-modified land with a terrestrial lifestyle, and it is partially migratory. It lays 2 eggs per clutch with 1 clutch per year, incubation lasts 36.5 days, sexual maturity comes at 8 years, its lifespan is 25.5 years, and the IUCN lists it as Least Concern.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 1.88 kg – 2.1 kg |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 1.83 m |
| Lifespan | 25.5 years |
| Diet | Scavenger |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | human_modified |
| Egg incubation | 36.5 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 2 |
| Age at maturity | 7.99 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Reproduction | Eggs |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Migration | Partial |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Accipitriformes
- family: Cathartidae
- genus: Coragyps
- species: *Coragyps atratus* (Bechstein, 1793)

Synonyms: *Catharista atrata*, *Catharista urubu*, *Cathartes atratus*, *Cathartes brasiliensis*, *Cathartes foetens*, *Cathartres atratus*, *Coragyps urubu*, *Percnopterus urubu*, *Vultur atratus*, *Vultur atratus*, *Vultur foetidus*, *Vultur urubu*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the black vulture?

The black vulture is a bird of prey in the family Cathartidae, order Accipitriformes.

### How heavy is a black vulture?

An adult Black vulture weighs 1.88 kg as a representative value, and up to 2.1 kg. Its wingspan is 1.83 m.

### What does the black vulture eat?

The black vulture's diet category is scavenger, and its trophic level is omnivore.

### Is the black vulture endangered?

No. The black vulture is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does a black vulture live?

The black vulture has a lifespan of 25.5 years. It reaches sexual maturity at 8 years.

### How many eggs does a black vulture lay?

The black vulture lays 2 eggs per clutch, with 1 clutch per year. Incubation lasts 36.5 days.

### What are other names for the black vulture?

Other English names for the black vulture are Black buzzard, Charleston eagle, Charleston buzzard and American black vulture.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Black vulture (Coragyps atratus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-vulture