Farmers may not appreciate black vultures because they attack livestock, but these predatory birds have one thing in common with many farmers and ranchers — generational family units.

Black vultures are monogamous, staying with their mates for decades — all year long.

They are attentive parents and stay in tight-knit family groups, helping each other find food and repelling unrelated vultures, according to the Missouri Department of Agriculture field guide.

Females lay 1 to 3 eggs per year, directly on the ground in caves or other dark, protected places. The eggs incubate for more than a month. Both males and females attend to the eggs, alternating 24-hour shifts. Adults sometimes position the eggs on top of their toes while incubating.

COLORFUL EGGS: The black vulture eggs can be pale white or greenish in color, but they always have dark-brown blotches. The female lays the eggs directly on the ground in a dark, protected area, often hollowed out tree stumps.

Once hatched, the young black vulture stays in the nest for two more months. To view a black vulture from egg to adult, click here.

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology “Information from the All About Birds,” black vultures feed their young for up to eight months and “maintain strong social bonds with their families throughout their lives.”

It is evident in their perching patterns.

Protecting the family

Black vultures roost in large flocks at night.

The communal roost, according to the Cornell Lab, serves as a place to assemble whether to start foraging or meet up with their young.

But it is a family-only roost.

“Black vultures aggressively prevent nonrelatives from joining them at roosts or following them to food sources,” the website states. Just how aggressive?

They peck, bite, wing-pummel and foot-grapple to ward off nonfamily members.

How long do black vultures live?

The oldest black vulture on record was at least 25 years, 6 months old. It was banded in the state of Louisiana in 1940 and found alive in 1965.

Scientists found they can live even longer in captivity.

While the agriculture industry prides itself on strong family units and longevity, those same attributes in black vultures will continue to present a problem for the livestock industry.