A particular characteristic of many vultures is a bald head devoid of feathers. Research has shown that the bare skin may play an important role in thermoregulation. Vultures seldom attack healthy animals but may kill the wounded or sick. A group of vultures is occasionally called a venue, and when circling in the air a group of vultures is called a kettle.Vast numbers have been seen upon battlefields. They gorge themselves when prey is abundant till their stomach bulges, and sit, sleepy or half torpid, to digest their food. They do not carry food to their young in their claws, but disgorge it from the crop. These birds are of great value as scavengers, especially in hot regions. Vultures have a vital role to play in the environment. They are the hardiest of all creations and have been called nature’s own disposal squads. Carcasses are a vulture’s typical diet and its scavenging habits are an important link in checking and containing the spread of infectious diseases among animals and human beings. Whenever there are occurances of cattle epidemics during natural calamities like floods and droughts, vultures cleanse the earth of putrid carcasses and prevent deadly germs from spreading. Botulinum toxin, the toxin that causes botulism, an acute gastrointestinal and nervous disorder due to consumption of poisonous and rotten food does not affect vultures, and they can eat rotten flesh containing anthrax and cholera bacteria.