Andean condor

The Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) is a cathartid vulture, 100–130 cm long with a mean wingspan of 283 cm, reaching 330 cm, the largest wing area among living birds, and a mean weight of 11.3 kg. Adults are black with a white neck ruff; males bear white wing patches and a red comb. Females, unusually, are the smaller sex. It ranges along the Andes from Venezuela to Patagonia, frequenting cliffs and grassland at 3,000–5,000 m. An obligate scavenger of large carcasses, it soars on updraughts for hundreds of kilometres daily. The IUCN classifies it Vulnerable.