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Jataayu meets Raam in Aranya Kaand of Raamaayan, when Raam, Seetaa and Lakshman are heading towards Panchvatee to stay there after visiting Agastya Muni. In fact Agastya Muni advised them to go there and stay there.

Jataayu was a vulture and was a good friend of Raajaa Dasharath's. He helped Raam by fighting Raavan when he was abducting Seetaa. While fighting with Raavan, Raavan cut his wings and he fell down helpless. He could not do anything more to Raavan since he couldn't fly any more. Later he lost his life after telling the incident of abduction of Seetaa by Raavan to Raam. He had a brother named Sampaati too.

Jataayu was in the lineage of Prajaapati Daksh, as he told Raam when he met Him.
Daksh's one daughter Kaalak had 2 sons and 5 daughters - one of the five daughters was Shyenee. Shyenee produced Shyenaa (vultures) and Shyen (eagles).
Shukee, another sister of Shyenee, had a daughter named Nataa; and Nataa had the daughter Vinataa. Vinataa had 2 sons - Garud and Arun, Garud being the ride of Bhagavaan Vishnu. Arun had two sons - Sampaati and Jataayu

Note
This story of Jataayu does not match with Daksh's story given in Bhaagvat Puraan, 6/3. There Vinataa was the daughter of Daksh and was married to Kashyap Jee. And Arun and garud are the sons of Kashyap Jee and Vinataa.

Jataayu Dies and Raam Performs His Last Rites
When Jataayu died after encountering Raavan, Raam performed his last rites with his own hands considering him like His father. The following commentary has been taken from Valmiki Ramayan from its relevant Kaand and Sarg. Hope this would enlighten our readers about why did Raam perform his last rites with His own hands.

Note
"When a Vaidik-ritual is performed the resultant factor is undoubtedly Punya (merit) for worlds. But this is different to that of practicing ascetic amid Five-Fires (Panchaagni)." But animals or birds have no faculty to perform those rituals and they have their own course of lifecycle after their demise.

Then where is the question of a bird going to heaven? "Which heaven is scheduled to such specialists..." is the objection. But Jataayu acquired all those "merits" when he combated Raavan without any retreat; thus he is getting a shortcut without undergoing too many other kinds of births, and he is given Mukti (emancipation) from lifecycles, for his action on behalf of godlike Raam. It is justifiable and befitting to get a final release. By word of Raam "by me cremated ritually and by me aptly consented to..." where He alone can transcend the man-made rules.

Here Jataayu did not attack Raavan keeping Raam or Seetaa in mind, but attacked Raavan only to play his part in uninstalling A-Dharm, which is not that easy, like purchasing some temple tickets to perform some ritual, for and on behalf of ticket holders and their families. For this it is said in Nrasinh Puraan that "because of me you attained your demise, thereby you get the realms of Vishnu..." where "because of me" is to be taken not as an individual godhood, but as Dharm (because of Dharm) itself. Hence the special sanctions to Jataayu, where such sanctions are absent in the case of Baali, as he followed the course of A-Dharm and there are many scripts that say Raam gave this emancipation to Jataayu.

Raam Sobs for Jataayu After His Death
'Had this Raam got no other work than weeping for his beloved ones and patiently performing last rites to all lowborn, lowly subjects like dead monkeys, birds, or even each individual Raakshas soldiers... they are all Shoodra" is haunted feeling to some. For this it is said "one who is devotee of Vishnu cannot be called a Shoodra... rather he is to be called "Vipra" (Bhaagvat...); but a non-devotee, may he be of any caste, he is a Shoodra..." And Shoodra is an Upa-Lakshan to birds or animals, thereby even animals and birds are on an even footing. If it comes to paying deference to God, then God alone is capable to decree emancipation to every or any being.

It is said that Raam is God, but yet He weeps... Is it not self-contradictory...?  Not so, when a neighbor weeps for the hardships of his neighbor, won't the neighborly God weep...?  that too on incarnating as a human... When humans are in difficulties, He wails much...  but waits much also, till those humans can correct or come over their problems on their own, keeping a little faith in Him...  Here also, the sobbing of Raam is comparatively nothing when compared to the sobbing for Seetaa, because the action of Jataayu, in encountering A-Dharm..., is not that He should weep so much as He was weeping for Seetaa. Thus Vaalmeeki Jee is aware of the amount of sobbing in Raamaayan.

Raam chants two Vaidik passages: "Yaamya Sookt" and "Naaraayan Sookt" - Aaapastamb Sootra as usually recited by Braahman in such funeral rites. Here it is 'so imperfectly conducted for an ineligible bird, by an unrelated highborn Kshatriya Raam, reciting unconcerned Vaidik hymns...' is the objection.

Jataayu is beyond any caste or creed by way of his devotion to his duty and by his self-sacrifice while on duty. Hence, he is beyond eligibility or opposite of it. Normally funeral rites are to be performed by one's own sons or nearest relatives. If none of the relatives of the dead is present to cremate, they are to be undertaken by the King of that kingdom. When Raam blessed the soul of Jataayu to go to the highest realms, which are far beyond the Ved of mortals, it is a sacrosanct act to chant those hymns... on human level; hence, Raam's action is clearly pro-Vaidik. And in Vaishnavaite tenets everything culminates into one - Vishnu. The adherents of Vishnu, may it be an animal, like Gajendra, the elephant; or humans, like Shabaree et al., or a bird, like Jataayu, they are led to the Ultimate course of the realm of Vishnu...'

Note
Jataayu's age is said to be 1,500 years.

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