The American black vulture, also known as the black vulture, native to the American continent was recently spotted in Gurugram in Haryana. The sighting is being called the "rarest of rare" because the bird is not naturally found in Asia or Europe.
The vulture usually sticks to its territory which spreads from the northeastern US to Peru, Central Chile, Brazil, and Uruguay in South America. Anil Gandass, a wildlife conservationist, thinks this is the first sighting of a black vulture in India.
The bird was first spotted by avian enthusiast Anuradha Mathur who shared the photograph on Twitter. She was out searching for blue throat and brown crake when she saw the rare bird. The bird is doing well at the moment because there are plenty of chicken carcasses in the area, said veteran birder Colonel Pankaj Sharma. Mathur called him immediately after spotting the bird and he identified it.
Many experts took to social media to discuss the sighting and several opined that the bird must have been poached from its natural habitat and escaped from wildlife traffickers. "A new world vulture in India is strange and rare. Repeating again. Finding a species out of the blue; there is a bad story behind it. Most probably he is an escapee, from captivity. From zoos or from smuggling parties," tweeted Indian Forest Service officer Parveen Kaswan.
The possibility of migration is little to none because the species hates flying over water. There are no previous records of black vultures migrating.
Last year, a black vulture was spotted by conservationists in Nepal for the first time in the country. Researchers then said it is no surprise. Kathmandu-based researcher documenting the illegal trade of wildlife Kushal shreshta said Nepal has been an active source and transit country for exotic birds and animals. Another rare species, a white vulture was recently captured by locals in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. A rare species called the Himalayan Griffon Vulture was caught and handed over to the officials in Eidgah cemetery of Kanpur's Colonelganj.
The vulture population has been declining steadily all across the world.