why do vultures fly super high in a circle above the carcasses they find?
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Most of the time they are just using a thermal updraft to gain height without using any energy. The thermal updrafts from solar heating tends to form into large funnels. We can not usually see these but the birds can feel them and will circle inside the funnel to soar higher allowing them to glide for long distances.
That is not to say that vultures and other birds do not circle around dead animals. This might be to scout the area for other predators as the birds are very vulnerable when on the ground. If a predator is already on the carcass they might stay flying while they wait their turn or at least until they find a vantage point where they can land.
And then when the vultures are done eating, or get chased away from the carcass, they usually want to fly far away and will search for nearby thermal updrafts. So you might see this circling behaviour after the vultures are done eating.
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