Slate on vultures

The life story of a vulture. - By Constance Casey - Slate Magazine

Counterintuitive stories appear to be Slate's speciality.  Take a common belief or perception, flip it on its head, and you've got your piece.  Good formula.

"Unjust though this is, it's understandable that we find the carrion-eating birds gruesome. Most of us would rather not think of ourselves as meat, and the details of vulture dining are hard to get comfortable with. Vultures, whose name comes from vellere, Latin for to tear, begin their eating at vulnerable spots on the carcass—the anus and eyes."