Do vultures really have no butt hole?

[leroyjenkens]

A few people recently have told me that vultures have no butt hole. They said they regurgitate everything they eat. I don't know why I keep hearing people say this. They don't specify what kind of vulture, which makes it sound even more wrong. I'm not the type of person to flat out say somebody is wrong unless I know for sure that they're wrong.
I looked it up online and I can't find anything. It's kind of an obscure thing to look for, so I'm not surprised I didn't find anything. But if they didn't have a butt hole, they'd be an anomaly and it would be pretty easy to find something saying they don't.
So they do have a butt hole, right?

 

[turbo]

The word "gullible" is not in the dictionary. It's true!

 

[leroyjenkens]

I tried to make it clear I did not believe them. But when I haven't seen a vulture's butt, I can't say for sure that they have one. Does it break a biological rule for an animal not to have one?

 

[turbo]

I tried to make it clear I did not believe them. But when I haven't seen a vulture's butt, I can't say for sure that they have one.

Even worms have an alimentary system so that they can consume food, absorb vital nutrients and excrete waste. Should vultures get a free pass?

 

[leroyjenkens]

Even worms have an alimentary system so that they can consume food, absorb vital nutrients and excrete waste. Should vultures get a free pass?

Should they? I have no preference for how vultures excrete waste. I understand that they must, and I'm sure they do it just like everything else, I just wanted to make sure they do. Could they regurgitate their waste? I don't know. That's why I asked.

 

[lisab]

A few people recently have told me that vultures have no butt hole. They said they regurgitate everything they eat. I don't know why I keep hearing people say this. They don't specify what kind of vulture, which makes it sound even more wrong. I'm not the type of person to flat out say somebody is wrong unless I know for sure that they're wrong.
I looked it up online and I can't find anything. It's kind of an obscure thing to look for, so I'm not surprised I didn't find anything. But if they didn't have a butt hole, they'd be an anomaly and it would be pretty easy to find something saying they don't.
So they do have a butt hole, right?

Perhaps some people believe this because vultures vomit as a defense mechanism.

The turkey vulture has few natural predators. Its primary form of defense is vomiting. The birds do not "projectile vomit," as many would claim. They simply cough up a lump of semi-digested meat. This foul smelling substance deters most creatures intent on raiding a vulture nest. It will also sting if the offending animal is close enough to get the vomit in its face or eyes.

http://vulturesociety.homestead.com/TVFacts.html#anchor_13531"

 

[Astronuc]

A few people recently have told me that vultures have no butt hole. They said they regurgitate everything they eat. I don't know why I keep hearing people say this. They don't specify what kind of vulture, which makes it sound even more wrong. I'm not the type of person to flat out say somebody is wrong unless I know for sure that they're wrong.
I looked it up online and I can't find anything. It's kind of an obscure thing to look for, so I'm not surprised I didn't find anything. But if they didn't have a butt hole, they'd be an anomaly and it would be pretty easy to find something saying they don't.
So they do have a butt hole, right?

All birds poop. So do mammals, amphibians, fish and reptiles.

Here's an example of pigeon viscera - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PigeonAnatomy.png
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_(anatomy )

The Digestive Tract of the Whiteback Griffon Vulture and Its Role in Disease Transmission Among Wild Ungulates
http://www.jwildlifedis.org/cgi/reprint/11/3/306.pdf
Unfortunately there is no illustration, but it is descriptive.

 

[Borek]

A few people recently have told me that vultures have no butt hole.

I feel like there is some kind of brain/butt hole switch involved, I am just not sure about details.

That said there are animals that don't have butt holes at all - cnidaria.

 

[hypatia]

In birds its called a cloaca, or vent. Its not correct to call it a anus or butt, in birds its serves more then one purpose. So your friend is correct, but not in the way he thinks he is.
Some birds do regurgitate indigestible matter, these are called pellets.

 

[leroyjenkens]

Thanks for the info, guys.

In birds its called a cloaca, or vent. Its not correct to call it a anus or butt, in birds its serves more then one purpose. So your friend is correct, but not in the way he thinks he is.

One of them said that he and his wife heard it, didn't believe it, so they checked it online and found it to be true. I don't know what they found, but I couldn't find it. They probably found a forum post with someone "confirming" it. Some people think that finding one other person who believes the same thing they do qualifies as validation.

 

[eeny]

A friend lives adjacent to open land in Andalucia, Spain. Recently she has found strange, tennis ball sized, mushroom shaped objects on the open ground. These objects appear to have gravel on top and contain blood and bone. Could they be pellets from the Griffon vultures, which abound in these parts?

 

[Ryan_m_b]

Eeny this thread is over a year old and about a completely different topic. If you are interested in an answer for your question feel free to start a new thread for just that.