black vulture

American  

noun

1. Also called carrion crow.  an American vulture, Coragyps atratus, having a black, bald head and black plumage.

2. any of several Old World vultures, especially Aegypius monachus, of southern Europe, Asia, and North Africa.

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Etymology

Origin of black vulture

First recorded in 1785–95

Example Sentences

I finally looked up the species: It was a gallinazo, also known as a black vulture, and as much as we might ignore them, they’d been circling the whole time.

From Slate • Mar. 30, 2026

Nearby, another mural by Matarrita, this time painted on a security screen, celebrates an unpopular bird: the black vulture.

From Washington Post • Jul. 7, 2022

Examples of protected species include northern cardinals, the red-tailed hawk, and the American black vulture.

From Textbooks • Sep. 6, 2018

On the mantel were a tail feather from a black vulture, a bracket fungus, and an owl carved from jetsam whalebone that someone had sent to help him see in the dark.

From The New Yorker • Apr. 10, 2017

But there was no sign of life save a large turkey-buzzard, like a black vulture, sailing gracefully over the tree-tops.

From A Romance of the Republic by Child, Lydia Maria Francis