verakiti's Identifications

One of the photo opportunities we were most interested in at this location was the vulture photo blind which had been constructed nearby. King Vultures are regularly seen here ad we hoped for the chance to get some shots. I have seen King Vultures on numerous trips to southern Mexico and Central and South America dating back to the late 70s, but most of my views were of birds soaring very high in the sky. The species is known to be shy of people and can difficult to get close to.

Our guide obtains pig heads from a slaughterhouse in the region when he has clients such as Dave and me who are interested. These heads are put out in the early morning and hopefully by 9 AM or so the Black Vultures will find them which may attract one or more Kings.

The hide or blind is constructed into the ground so that the photos are taken at more or less ground level. You are shooting through optical quality glass in windows in order to lessen the disturbance to the birds and from the bird side of the glass only a dull reflection is seen. It is an incredible piece of construction and was designed very well.

To make a long story short, during our morning in this blind we had hundreds of Black Vultures and 6 Kings! Three adults and other younger birds of various ages. I have over 400 nice images, just a few which are here. It was quite an experience to see this magnificent bird up close and personal. At one point an adult King Vulture was within 5 feet of us....I took some cell phone shots!