Of late, an American black vulture with sooty black plumage was spotted in India’s Delhi, causing a stir amongst birdwatchers and conservationists. The scavenger bird is native to the northeastern United States and a few South American countries like Peru, central Chile, and Uruguay, and many experts argue that it is possible that the bird might have escaped the captivity of illegal bird traffickers. As per the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association, a research organisation aimed at conserving scavenger birds, the black vultures typically avoid crossing large bodies of water and do not cover long distances. Therefore, finding an adult black vulture in the heart of Delhi is perplexing. On Wednesday, Anu Mathur (@anuradhamathur), who self-identifies as a birder, shared three pictures of the blackbird and wrote, “#BlackVulture sighting in #Delhi #NCR!!!! at chandu budhera canal gurgaon area #Today afternoon! I am informed by #indiaves it's a very rare sighting in #India!”. #BlackVulture sighting in #Delhi #NCR!!!! at chandu budhera canal gurgaon area #Today afternoon! I am informed by #indiaves it's a very rare sighting in #India! @timesofindia @IndianExpress @htTweets . I was searching for blue throat and brown crake and boom I see this lifer! pic.twitter.com/NDgj14UAy1 — anu mathur (@anuradhamathur) January 27, 2023 Commenting on Mathur’s post, Parveen Kaswan, an Indian Forest Service officer wrote, “This must have escaped from captivity. In the past also black vultures have been seized while they were being smuggled. Finding few individuals out of the blue; majority of the time there is a bad story behind it.” In the comments, people also pointed out that an American black vulture was also spotted in Kwasoti Nepal back in July.
