Vulture

Vultures are large, winged predators, and one of the most persistent threats in Rain World. They move through the air using thin wings and gas propelled through their bodies, and catch their prey with a lunging bite before flying off back into the sky. Their chief disadvantage is their large size: vultures are not encountered in areas inaccessible from the sky and are unable to traverse pipes or tunnels. Vultures are notable for their fearsome masks, which can be taken from them by particularly brave slugcats.

Vultures are menacing foes which can appear in the majority of the game's regions. They will remain a threat throughout Industrial Complex, Garbage Wastes, Shoreline, Chimney Canopy, Sky Islands, and Farm Arrays.

Behavior
A vulture's arrival is typically signaled by its shadow descending beneath it. Players should be aware that by the time the vulture itself appears on screen, it will have already had time to see any nearby prey, and may immediately be ready to attack slugcat. Vultures will hover above their prey briefly before lunging at them headfirst. If the bite connects, the prey will be caught, and the vulture will attempt to fly off with it. Vultures will have a brief tell before they bite: they will hold almost completely still, their head will shake, and they will give off a light rustling sound. They seem to prefer biting creatures that are moving slowly, so keeping a quick and steady pace may help to avoid their attacks.

The primary weak point of all vultures is their head. Notably, upon the first solid hit to the head, the vulture's mask will fall off. This mask is valuable, as it can be used to scare away most lizards, but without it the vulture will become very aggressive towards slugcat, actively hunting the player down until it is dead. Thankfully, maskless vultures will be attacked by other vultures with masks, suggesting some sort of strange culture within their kind.

Although vultures are fearsome, they will gladly take any sizable creature as prey, and this need not be slugcat. Hiding in a tunnel or a pipe until a vulture catches some other beast is a viable option, as they will fly off for some time once they have caught something. That said, most other creatures will likely have the same idea, fleeing for cover as soon as they spot the vulture.

Hardmode (King Vultures)
King vultures are a vulture variant which only appear outside of lineage in hardmode. These vultures have two sharp harpoons mounted on their masks, as well as two laser sights that move with their heads. King vulture launch these harpoons at prey in an attempt to reel them in to be eaten.

Harpoons kill upon contact and are very accurate, so finding cover is recommended. The laser sights flash rapidly with a pulse sound three times before firing. Once both harpoons have been fired, King vultures will typically move into close range and attempt to bite their target like normal vultures.

Trivia

 * The grey caps seen on their back will open as they release gas.
 * Vultures cannot retrieve their mask, once one has been angered by taking its mask there is no way to cease its pursuit other than waiting for it to die.
 * Although vultures are high level predators, they can be killed by several threats. Pole plants, monster kelp, scavengers, the leviathan, and even green lizards can be seen killing vultures.