# King vulture (*Sarcoramphus papa*)

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

The king vulture (Sarcoramphus papa) is a bird of prey in the family Cathartidae and the order Accipitriformes. It is a medium-sized bird with an adult body mass of 3.4 kg and a wingspan of 2.012 m. The king vulture is a scavenger that lives in forest habitat, has a terrestrial lifestyle and is sedentary. It lays 1 egg per clutch and 1 clutch per year, with an incubation period of 57 days, and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 3.4 kg |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 2.01 m |
| Lifespan | 40 years |
| Diet | Scavenger |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | forest |
| Egg incubation | 57 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 1 |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Migration | Sedentary |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Accipitriformes
- family: Cathartidae
- genus: Sarcoramphus
- species: *Sarcoramphus papa* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Sarcaramphus papa*, *Sarcorhamphus papa*, *Vultur papa*, *Vultur rex vulturum*

## Common questions

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

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

### How heavy is the king vulture?

The king vulture has an adult body mass of 3.4 kg, with values up to 3.402 kg reported. Its wingspan is 2.012 m.

### What does the king vulture eat?

The king vulture is a scavenger.

### What habitat does the king vulture live in?

The king vulture lives in forest habitat and has a terrestrial, sedentary lifestyle.

### Is the king vulture endangered?

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

### How long does the king vulture live?

The king vulture has a lifespan of 40 years.

### How many eggs does the king vulture lay?

The king vulture lays 1 egg per clutch and 1 clutch per year. The egg incubation period is 57 days.

### Who named the king vulture?

The king vulture, Sarcoramphus papa, was named by (Linnaeus, 1758).

## 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: King vulture (Sarcoramphus papa). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/king-vulture