Family Hawks, Eagles (Accipitridae)
Critically Endangered
White-headed Vulture (Trigonoceps occipitalis)
Taxonomy
French: Vautour à tête blanche German: Wollkopfgeier Spanish: Buitre cabeciblanco
Taxonomy:
Vultur occipitalis
Burchell
, 1824,Matlowing River, Botswana
.Distribution:
Senegambia E to Eritrea (including Dahlak Archipelago), Ethiopia and Somalia, then S to N Namibia, NE South Africa and Swaziland.
Descriptive notes
72–85 cm; 3300–5300 g, mean 4260 g; wingspan 207–230 cm. Pied plumage, angular head, high neck ruff and bright facial colours notable. Chunky, with heavy... read more
Voice
Chattering calls heard when competing at carcasses with other vultures, but otherwise silent.
Habitat
Dry woodland, thornbush and tree savanna, generally not extending into drier steppe or denser... read more
Food and feeding
Carrion and bone fragments from carcasses large and small, perhaps more usually the latter in the form of roadkills, reptiles, etc. ... read more
Breeding
Laying usually in dry season: Oct–Jan in W & NE Africa (where season lasts until Jun); all months in E Africa, depending on... read more
Movements
No regular movements of adults reported, even in W Africa. Adult pairs apparently sedentary within... read more
Status and conservation
CRITICALLY ENDANGERED. CITES II. Very large range, but small and rapidly declining population. Not considered of conservation concern until 2007, then listed as Vulnerable... read more
Usually considered sufficiently distinctive to merit monotypic genus, but sometimes placed in Aegypius with Sarcogyps calvus, A. monachus and Torgos tracheliotos. Monotypic.