Carrion is a noun that means "dead or putrefying flesh."
A "carrion bird" is a bird that eats carrion.
Well, maybe a little. A few animals, including some birds, are scavengers. That is, they rely on dead animals as a food souce, and some of those animals are birds. This page is dedicated to those birds and the valuable work they do to keep our world a little cleaner.
Many omnivores and carnivores like dogs, cats, rodents, skunks, opossums and coyotes turn to carrion when necessary or convenient. Insects eat carrion, too. Some beetles and maggots (fly larva) eat exclusively on dead bodies. For more information see the Ecology of Carrion Decomposition.
No, carrion birds are found all over the world. North Carolina has just a small share of the worldwide population. You will learn that the largest group of carrion birds -- vultures -- found in the Americas and those found in Africa, Asia, and Europe, despite their many similarities, are not very closely related to each other.
The first rank of carrion birds are vultures. These are fascinating animals that have developed a variety of physiological features that allow them to maintain a carrion-only diet that would open up other animals to disease. Some other birds, namely crows, hawks and eagles, like other big carnivores and omnivores, are occasional carrion eaters. Click the cards below to learn more about them.
