https://comingsbirds.com/GladysPorterZoo

Vultures have very ugly faces and the King Vulture has one of the ugliest. It is so ugly that it is almost beautiful. Because it is so striking it is a favorite with zoos and over 50% of the zoos I have visited have one.

The king vulture was originally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae as Vultur papa, the type specimen originally collected in Suriname. It was reassigned to the genus Sarcoramphus in 1805 by French zoologist André Marie Constant Duméril. The generic name is a New Latin compound formed from the Greek words σάρξ (sarx, "flesh", the combining form of which is σαρκο-) and ῥάμφος (rhamphos, "crooked beak of bird of prey"). The genus name is often misspelled as Sarcorhamphus, improperly retaining the Greek rough breathing despite agglutination with the previous word-element. The species name is derived from Latin word papa "bishop", alluding the bird's plumage resembling the clothing of one. The king vulture's closest living relative is the Andean condor, Vultur gryphus.

www.ComingsBirds.com/GladysPorterZoo

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