The Story
This Greater Yellow-headed Vulture (Cathartes melambrotus) perched in the forest in the Mocagua Indigenous community, a Ticuna resguardo beside Amacayacu National Natural Park in Amazonas, Colombia, its yellow and pale orange head bright against dark plumage. It was treated as the same species as the Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture until the two were described separately in 1964. It lives in moist lowland forest and finds carrion both by sight and by smell, an ability that is rare in birds. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I used a Canon R5 with the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender for this one, at 1/180 sec, f/16, ISO 3200, −1 EV. Mocagua’s Ticuna community runs guided ecotourism next to Amacayacu National Natural Park, so visits like mine help support the people who protect this forest.
©2023 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Greater Yellow-headed Vulture (Cathartes melambrotus) belongs to the family Cathartidae (New World Vultures) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2024), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List