King Vulture

No other scavenger dresses like a king vulture: pure white plumage edged in black, a bare wrinkled head, and a face of red, orange, yellow, and violet around a fleshy orange wattle. Its scientific name, Sarcoramphus papa, literally calls it a pope among vultures.

At a carcass the king vulture usually does rule — its massive bill tears into tough hides that smaller vultures cannot open, and the rest wait for it to finish. Strong wingbeats are rare; instead it soars for hours on thermals, reading the forest below for signs of death.