MAYHEM
Species: Coragyps atratus, Black Vulture • Hatch Year: 2020 • Sex: Female • Disability: Human Imprint
Mayhem was found as a chick alongside her sibling, Bedlam, in the fall of 2020. The well-meaning people who found them presumed them to be abandoned and decided to hand raise them. Eventually they realized that they needed professional help and the two were taken to a licensed rehabilitator, but unfortunately, they had already experienced too much human contact to be safely released back into the wild. The pair came to American Eagle Foundation in December of 2020. Mayhem and Bedlam are currently housed together in an aviary. Mayhem is slightly larger than her brother. She loves to play with her food bowl and tug at her handlers’ clothes. As they are male and female, when they reach sexual maturity, they will have to be separated, at least during the breeding season. For now, the duo enjoys hanging out together, engaging with their handlers during training sessions and causing all sorts of mayhem…and bedlam.
ABOUT THIS SPECIES
Vultures often build their nests on the ground, and as one of the most intelligent and curious raptors in America, chicks like to explore their surroundings. Vultures can be found hovering above farmlands, forests, plains, and roadways searching and scavenging for dead animals (and sometimes vegetation) to dine on. Many people think that Vultures are ugly, but they are actually very beautiful and graceful when soaring through the sky!
Vultures do not have a voice box like other raptors. A hissing or grunting sound is the only vocal noise a vulture will make. In addition to hissing, a vulture will sometimes throw up on a potential threat, a defense mechanism called ‘projectile vomiting.’