Wild Birds of Prey - Vultures

by Deborah Kops

With their featherless, wrinkled heads, vultures may seem funny-looking. When they soar in the air, however, vultures are as graceful as any bird in the sky. The California condor, a type of vulture, is magnificent in flight. Vultures are birds of prey, which are also called "raptors." Like other raptors, vultures have curved claws called "talons," and sharp, hooked beaks for tearing apart prey. But they differ from other raptors in one important way -- vultures are scavengers. Almost all of their food is carrion (the bodies of dead animals).

24 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

I've written more than 20 books for kids, including The Great Molasses Flood: Boston, 1919 (Charlesbridge, 2012)

Reviews

[Cienna]

For a children's book it presents a lot of good information with very simplistic definitions. It does not shy away from pictures of vultures feeding, which is not often seen in kid's books (it's "violent"). Some of the facts may be a bit outdated but otherwise it presents great information. The other problem I had with the book (which isn't really an issue with kid's books) is that it repeats itself a LOT. This is most likely to just drive information into your mind. I also appreciate having kid's books about animals that don't receive a lot of love <3