Black Vulture - Relationship With Humans

Relationship With Humans

The Black Vulture is considered a threat by cattle ranchers due to its predation on newborn cattle. The droppings produced by Black Vultures and other vultures can harm or kill trees and other vegetation. The bird is also considered a threat to the safety of aerial traffic, especially when it congregates in large numbers in the vicinity of garbage dumps — as is the case in the Rio de Janeiro Tom Jobim International Airport.

The Black Vulture can be held in captivity, though the Migratory Bird Treaty Act only allows this in the case of animals which are injured or unable to return to the wild. It receives special legal protections under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 in the United States, by the Convention for the Protection of Migratory Birds in Canada, and by the Convention for the Protection of Migratory Birds and Game Mammals in Mexico. In the United States it is illegal to take, kill, or possess Black Vultures and violation of the law is punishable by a fine of up to US$15,000 and imprisonment of up to six months. It is listed as a species of Least Concern by the IUCN Red List. Populations appear to remain stable, and it has not reached the threshold of inclusion as a threatened species, which requires a decline of more than 30 percent in ten years or three generations.

The Black Vulture appears in a variety of Maya hieroglyphics in Mayan codices. It is normally connected with either death or as a bird of prey. The vulture's glyph is often shown attacking humans. This species lacks the religious connections that the King Vulture has. While some of the glyphs clearly show the Black Vulture's open nostril and hooked beak, some are assumed to be this species because they are vulture-like but lack the King Vulture's knob and are painted black.

This vulture has appeared on two stamps: those of Guyana in 1990 and Nicaragua in 1994.