The 10-year migration count trends for Black Vulture suggest mostly stable populations across North America as 60.6% of sites showing stable counts during this span. Populations are mostly stable in each of the main regions they are found, the Gulf and the East Regions (see pie charts below). Twenty-year count trends (not shown) also reflect a mostly stable population. Fort Smallwood, Maryland, counts one of the highest numbers of Black Vultures in the spring with an average of 492. Increases have been observed across the Eastern states as this species expands its range northward, with recent documentations of breeding vultures as far north as Vermont (Crowley 2022). Migration counts of Black Vultures in many areas are made more challenging by these increasing numbers of resident birds.

Winter survey data from the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) show increasing trends continent-wide with the annual percent change in population reported to be an increase of 5.7%. Increasing non-migrant populations are contributing to increases in wintering numbers. The 10-year relative abundance data from eBird supports this same conclusion, as the abundance of Black Vultures in the United States has increased by 4.3% annually. In contrast, relative abundance of vultures in Central and South America has declined. The Black Vulture is designated as a Species of Least Concern throughout its range by the IUCN Red List, and as obligate scavengers, they perform valuable ecosystem services for humans through carcass disposal and disease prevention. Black Vultures are vulnerable to habitat destruction, human disturbance, harassment, and indirect poisoning from lead and other toxins, which have been shown to impact vulture species all over the world. Recent outbreaks of avian influenza have caused widespread loss in Black Vultures in mid-Atlantic states.

Citations

Cynthia M. Crowley, Kyle F. Tansley, Neil J. Buckley “First Breeding Record of the Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus) in Vermont,” Northeastern Naturalist, 29(1), N1-N5, (11 February 2022)