Vulture Cover; Imprint page; Contents; Preface; 1. An Unnatural History of Scavenging; 2. Vultures Circling: Eating People; 3. Otherworldly Vultures; 4. Vulture Futures; Timeline of the Vulture; Appendix: Species of Vulture Around the World; References; Bibliography; Associations and Websites; Acknowledgements; Photo Acknowledgements; Index
Summary
Simply because they are large scavenging birds, vultures are often viewed as harbingers of death. But, as Thom van Dooren shows in this cultural and natural history, that dominant association leaves us with a very one-dimensional understanding of a group of actually rather fascinating and diverse creatures. Vulture offers an enlightening new history of this much-misunderstood bird. Vultures vary in type and size, and while some have a diet mainly of bone, others are actually almost completely vegetarian. Most interesting, despite its notorious association with death, the vulture very rarely