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.

Appearance
Vultures are massive aerial creatures that have a fat round body, a long slender neck, and two rather lengthy wings. Despite having wings and despite flapping them while flying, these are nothing more than a balancing tool- Vultures attain buoyancy in the air by releasing or adding gas into their bodies. The gas they release is an odd pinkish-red color, and dissipates into air after being released, not retaining its color. Their head rests atop their long, skinny neck and dons two large mandibles (called 'tusks' in the game files) which they use to latch onto prey. All vultures wear masks apparently made of bone, with two eye holes through which their menacing eyes can be seen glowing.

Behavior
A Vulture's arrival is typically signaled by its shadow descending beneath it. By the time the Vulture appears on screen, it will have already seen nearby prey, and may immediately be ready to attack Slugcat. Vultures will hover above their prey briefly and make a light rustling sound before lunging headfirst to bite. If the bite connects, the Vulture will attempt to fly off with it. Moving quickly may help delay or prevent lunges.

Masked vulture bites are never lethal, but demasked vulture bites will kill 100% of the time.

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.

Vultures are capable hunters and will gladly take any sizable creature as prey, but this need not be a 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 variant which only appear natively 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. It takes a few seconds for the vulture to pull its harpoons out of terrain and reel them back in.

Although typically only encountered in hardmode, king vultures can be made to spawn while playing as The Survivor through the lineage system by killing vultures in certain areas repeatedly.

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, leviathans, and even green lizards can be seen killing them. Leviathans can even swallow them whole.
 * Vultures can squeeze into small pipes, although it's entirely unknown if this is a glitch or not. However, they cannot enter inter-room tunnels.
 * Vulture grubs will call on vultures when threatened. This, coupled with the vulture's strange appearance, may be sufficient evidence to determine that vulture grubs are actually baby vultures. However, there is no official confirmation or total proof of this.
 * Vultures are the third largest creature in Rain World, the second being Daddy Long Legs and the first being Leviathan.