This King Vulture is the largest species of vulture. They do hang out with the more common Black Vultures. It’s habitat is in mature forest where one can find it. This jungle location was the only place we saw the King Vulture but the Black Vultures were extremely common in almost every venue we encountered.
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Pertinent technical details or techniques:
Iso-1000, 300 mm PF, F8, 800th, D 500, handheld, no flash (and flash prohibited in this area), 98% full frame, overcast and drizzling.
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David, that is an amazing looking vulture. All vultures bare heads are well suited for their cleanup duties in life. This guy is truly stunning. Only thought for a minor change is with the BG area and maybe some drop in the magenta there, but the bird is really outstanding here…
David, I second @Paul_Breitkreuz’s suggestion about the magenta but this is such a beautiful shot. The pose is my favorite and the head turn is perfect.
Amazingly attractive bird as vultures go, David. An excellent pose with very good detail and a pleasant background. Looks like a distant valley behind it.
David: Cool Bird. Nice pose with the over the shoulder look. I like the environment inclusion. I might think about a bit darker background.
I wonder if this is a young bird. I’ve photographed these guys and the ones I’ve photographed the white parts are really white. This one seems more tan/brown. I don’t know much about them and just wondered if this was a young one.
I think tan plumage on this King Vulture is due to significantly wet feathers; it had been raining on and off quite heavily at times and this image was taken in the rain. I do remember some discussion about a juvenile being present in the mix of King Vultures. I am unable to confirm whether this is a juvenile but I am including another picture where the back plumage is all black. The images in my Birds of Costa Rica and iPad app do not shed any further information on the identity of this Vulture.However, the guidebook does state “the blackish juvenile somewhat resembles other vultures in flight, but shows uniformly dark under wing; on perched juveniles, note pale iris and white flocking on under parts.” Perhaps Chuck Gangas knows.
There is a distant Valley on the other side of this image. A fairly wide calm River flows through the valley.
Hi David,
Excellent images of both birds-
the last post is a juvenile.
Chuck
Thanks. Enjoy your next outing!
Hi David, impressive detail on the top of the bird. Love the look back pose and that stark eye. I also like the background. Well done.
