White-rumped vulture
White-rumped vulture | |
---|---|
White-rumped vulture in Mangaon, Raigad, Maharashtra | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Accipitriformes |
Family: | Accipitridae |
Genus: | Gyps |
Species: | G. bengalensis
|
Binomial name | |
Gyps bengalensis (Gmelin, JF, 1788)
| |
Former distribution of the white-rumped vulture in red | |
Synonyms | |
Pseudogyps bengalensis |
The white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis) is an Old World vulture native to South and Southeast Asia. It has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2000, as the population severely declined. White-rumped vultures die of kidney failure caused by diclofenac poisoning.[1] In the 1980s, the global population was estimated at several million individuals, and it was thought to be "the most abundant large bird of prey in the world".[2] As of 2021, the global population was estimated at less than 6,000 mature individuals.[1]
It is closely related to the European
Taxonomy
The white-rumped vulture was
Description
The white-rumped vulture is a typical, medium-sized vulture, with an unfeathered head and neck, very broad wings, and short tail feathers. It is much smaller than the Eurasian Griffon. It has a white neck ruff. The adult's whitish back, rump, and underwing coverts contrast with the otherwise dark plumage. The body is black and the secondaries are silvery grey. The head is tinged in pink and bill is silvery with dark ceres. The nostril openings are slit-like. Juveniles are largely dark and take about four or five years to acquire the adult plumage. In flight, the adults show a dark leading edge of the wing and has a white wing-lining on the underside. The undertail coverts are black.[10]
It is the smallest of the Gyps vultures, but is still a very large bird. It weighs 3.5–7.5 kg (7.7–16.5 lb), measures 75–93 cm (30–37 in) in length,[10] and has a wingspan of 1.92–2.6 m (6.3–8.5 ft).[11][12]
This vulture builds its nest on tall trees often near human habitations in northern and central India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and southeast Asia, laying one egg. Birds form roost colonies. The population is mostly resident.
Like other vultures it is a scavenger, feeding mostly on carcasses, which it finds by soaring high in thermals and spotting other scavengers. A 19th century experimenter who hid a carcass of dog in a sack in a tree considered it capable of finding carrion by smell.[13] It often flies and sits in flocks. At one time, it was the most numerous vulture in India.[10]
Within the well-supported clade of the genus Gyps which includes Asian, African, and European populations, it has been determined that this species is basal with the other species being more recent in their species divergence.[14][15]
Behaviour and ecology
White-rumped vultures usually become active when the morning sun is warming up the air so that thermals are sufficient to support their soaring. They were once visible above Calcutta in large numbers.[16]
When they find a carcass, they quickly descend and feed voraciously. They perch on trees nearby and are known to sometimes descend also after dark to feed. At kill sites, they are dominated by red-headed vultures Sarcogyps calvus.[17] In forests, their soaring often indicated a tiger kill.[18] They swallow pieces of old, dry bones such as ribs and of skull pieces from small mammals.[19] Where water is available they bathe regularly and also drink water. A pack of vultures was observed to have cleaned up a whole bullock in about 20 minutes. Trees on which they regularly roost are often white from their excreta, and this acidity often kills the trees. This made them less welcome in orchards and plantations.[20]
They sometimes feed on dead vultures.[21][22] One white-rumped vulture was observed when getting caught in the mouth of a dying calf.[23] Jungle crows have been sighted to steal food brought by adults and regurgitated to young.[24]
Solitary nests are not used regularly and are sometimes taken over by the red-headed vulture and large owls such as
Mycoplasmas have been isolated from tissues of a white-rumped vulture.[27] Mallophagan parasites such as Falcolipeurus and Colpocephalum turbinatumhave been collected from the species.[28][29] Ticks, Argas (Persicargas) abdussalami, have been collected in numbers from the roost trees of these vultures in Pakistan.[30]
A captive individual lived for at least 12 years.[31]
Status and decline
In the Indian subcontinent
The white-rumped vulture was originally very common especially in the Gangetic plains of India, and often seen nesting on the avenue trees within large cities in the region. Hugh Whistler noted for instance in his guide to the birds of India that it “is the commonest of all the vultures of India, and must be familiar to those who have visited the Towers of Silence in Bombay.”[32] T. C. Jerdon noted that “[T]his is the most common vulture of India, and is found in immense numbers all over the country, ... At Calcutta one may frequently be seen seated on the bloated corpse of some Hindoo floating up or down with the tide, its wing spread, to assist in steadying it...”[33]
Before the 1990s they were even seen as a nuisance, particularly to aircraft as they were often involved in
This species, as well as the
An alternate hypothesis is an epidemic of avian malaria, as implicated in the extinctions of birds in the Hawaiian islands. Evidence for the idea is drawn from an apparent recovery of a vulture following chloroquine treatment.[46] Yet another suggestion has been that the population changes may be linked with long term climatic cycles such as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation.[47]
Affected vultures were initially reported to adopt a drooped neck posture and this was considered a symptom of pesticide poisoning,[3] but subsequent studies suggested that this may be a thermoregulatory response as the posture was seen mainly during hot weather.[48]
It has been suggested that rabies cases have increased in India due to the decline.[49]
In Southeast Asia
In Southeast Asia, the near-total disappearance of white-rumped vultures predated the present diclofenac crisis, and probably resulted from the collapse of large wild ungulate populations and improved management of dead livestock, resulting in a lack of available carcasses for vultures.[50]
Conservation
Currently, only the Cambodia and Burma populations are thought to be viable though those populations are still very small (low hundreds).[50] It has been suggested that the use of meloxicam (another NSAID) as a veterinary substitute that is safer for vultures would help in the recovery.[51] Campaigns to ban the use of diclofenac in veterinary practice have been underway in several South Asian countries.[52]
Conservation measures have included
References
- ^ a b c BirdLife International (2021). "Gyps bengalensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T22695194A204618615. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
- ^ Houston, D. C. (1985). "Indian White-backed Vulture (Gyps bengalensis)". In Newton, I.; Chancellor, R. D. (eds.). Conservation studies of raptors. Cambridge, U.K: International Council for Bird Preservation. pp. 456–466.
- ^ a b Prakash, V.; Pain, D.J.; Cunningham, A.A.; Donald, P.F.; Prakash, N.; Verma, A.; Gargi, R.; Sivakumar, S.; Rahmani, A.R. (2003). "Catastrophic collapse of Indian white-backed Gyps bengalensis and long-billed Gyps indicus vulture populations". Biological Conservation. 109 (3): 381–390. .
- ^ Gmelin, Johann Friedrich (1788). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 1 (13th ed.). Lipsiae [Leipzig]: Georg. Emanuel. Beer. p. 245.
- ^ Latham, John (1781). A General Synopsis of Birds. Vol. 1, Part 1. London: Printed for Leigh and Sotheby. p. 19 No. 16, Plate 1.
- ^ Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1979). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 305.
- ^ Savigny, Marie Jules César (1809). Description de l'Égypte: Histoire naturelle (in French). Vol. 1. Paris: Imprimerie impériale. pp. 68, 71.
- ^ Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2022). "Hoatzin, New World vultures, Secretarybird, raptors". IOC World Bird List Version 12.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ a b c Rasmussen, P. C.; Anderton, J. C. (2005). Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Volume 2. Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. pp. 89–90.
- ^ a b c Hume, A. O. (1896). "Gyps Bengalensis". My scrap book or rough notes on Indian ornithology. Calcutta: Baptist Mission Press. pp. 26–31.
- ISBN 0-618-12762-3
- ^ Hutton, T. (1837). "Nest of the Bengal Vulture, (Vultur Bengalensis) with observations on the power of scent ascribed to the vulture tribe". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 6: 112–118.
- PMID 8577858.
- PMC 1569873.
- ^ Cunningham, D. D. (1903). "Vultures, eagles". Some Indian friends and acquaintances; a study of the ways of birds and other animals frequenting Indian streets and gardens. London: John Murray. pp. 237–251.
- ^ Morris, R. C. (1935). "Death of an Elephant (Elephas maximus Linn.) while calving". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 37 (3): 722.
- ^ Gough, W. (1936). "Vultures feeding at night". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 38 (3): 624.
- ^ Grubh, R. B. (1973). "Calcium intake in vultures of the genus Gyps". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 70 (1): 199–200.
- ISBN 978-0-19-562063-4.
- ^ Prakash, V. (1988). "Indian Scavenger Vulture (Neophron percnopterus ginginianus) feeding on a dead White-backed Vulture (Gyps bengalensis)". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 85 (3): 614–615 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- ^ Rana, G.; Prakash, V. (2003). "Cannibalism in Indian White-backed Vulture Gyps bengalensis in Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 100 (1): 116–117.
- ^ Greenwood, J. A. C. (1938). "Strange accident to a Vulture". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 40 (2): 330.
- ^ McCann, Charles (1937). "Curious behaviour of the Jungle Crow (Corvus macrorhynchus) and the White-backed Vulture (Gyps bengalensis)". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 39 (4): 864.
- .
- ^ .
- ^
Oaks, J. L.; Donahoe, S. L.; Rurangirwa, F. R.; Rideout, B. A.; Gilbert, M.; Virani, M. Z. (2004). "Identification of a Novel Mycoplasma Species from an Oriental White-Backed Vulture (Gyps bengalensis)". Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 42 (12): 5909–5912. PMID 15583338.
- ^ Tandan, B. K. (2009). "Mallophaga from birds of the Indian subregion. Part VI Falcolipeurus Bedford*". Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London B. 33 (11–12): 173–180. .
- ^
Price, R. D.; Emerson, K.C. (1966). "New synonymies within the bird lice (Mallophaga)". Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. 39 (3): 430–433. JSTOR 25083538.
- PMID 5834930.
- ^
Stott, Ken Jr. (1948). "Notes on the longevity of captive birds" (PDF). Auk. 65 (3): 402–405. JSTOR 4080488.
- ^ Whistler, Hugh (1949). Popular Handbook of Indian Birds. London: Gurney & Jackson. pp. 354–356.
- ^ Jerdon, T. C. (1862). "Gyps Bengalensis". The Birds of India. Vol. 1. Military Orphan Press. pp. 10–12.
- ^ Satheesan, S. M. (1994). "The more serious vulture hits to military aircraft in India between 1980 and 1994" (PDF). Bird Strikes Committee Europe, Conference proceedings. Vienna: BSCE.
- .
- ^ McCann, C. (1941). "Vultures and palms". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 42 (2): 439–440.
- ^ Satheesan, S. M. & M. Satheesan (2000). "Serious vulture-hits to aircraft over the world" (PDF). International Bird Strike Committee IBSC25/WP-SA3. Amsterdam: IBSC.
- ^ Prakash, V.; et al. (2007). "Recent changes in populations of resident Gyps vultures in India" (PDF). J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 104 (2): 129–135.
- ^ Baral, N.; Gautam, R.; Tamang, B. (2005). "Population status and breeding ecology of White-rumped Vulture Gyps bengalensis in Rampur Valley, Nepal" (PDF). Forktail. 21: 87–91. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-07-04. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
- ^ Green, Rhys E.; Newton, IAN; Shultz, Susanne; Cunningham, Andrew A.; Gilbert, Martin; Pain, Deborah J.; Prakash, Vibhu (2004). "Diclofenac poisoning as a cause of vulture population declines across the Indian subcontinent". Journal of Applied Ecology. 41 (5): 793–800. .
- ^
Swan, G. E; Cuthbert, R.; Quevedo, M.; Green, R. E; Pain, D. J; Bartels, P.; Cunningham, A. A; Duncan, N.; et al. (2006). "Toxicity of diclofenac to Gyps vultures". Biology Letters. 2 (2): 279–282. PMID 17148382.
- PMID 16456159.
- ^
Cuthbert, R.; Parry-Jones, J.; Green, R. E; Pain, D. J (2007). "NSAIDs and scavenging birds: potential impacts beyond Asia's critically endangered vultures". Biology Letters. 3 (1): 91–94. PMID 17443974.
- PMID 7279596.
- ^
Muralidharan, S.; Dhananjayan, V.; Risebrough, Robert; Prakash, V.; Jayakumar, R.; Bloom, Peter H. (2008). "Persistent Organochlorine Pesticide Residues in Tissues and Eggs of White-Backed Vulture, Gyps bengalensis from Different Locations in India". Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. 81 (6): 561–565. S2CID 22985718.
- ^ Poharkar, A.; Reddy, P. A.; Gadge, V.A.; Kolte, S.; Kurkure, N. & Shivaji, S P. (2009). "Is malaria the cause for decline in the wild population of the Indian White-backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis)?" (PDF). Current Science. 96 (4): 553.
- .
- ^
Gilbert, Martin; Watson, Richard T.; Virani, Munir Z.; Oaks, J. Lindsay; Ahmed, Shakeel; Chaudhry, Muhammad Jamshed Iqbal; Arshad, Muhammad; Mahmood, S.; Ali, A.; Khan, A. A. (2007). "Neck-drooping Posture in Oriental White-Backed Vultures (Gyps bengalensis): An Unsuccessful Predictor of Mortality and Its Probable Role in Thermoregulation". Journal of Raptor Research. 41: 35–40. S2CID 85581650.
- ^
Markandya, A.; Taylor, T.; Longo, A.; Murty, M.N.; Murty, S.; Dhavala, K. (2008). "Counting the cost of vulture decline—An appraisal of the human health and other benefits of vultures in India" (PDF). Ecological Economics. 67 (2): 194–204. hdl:10036/4350.
- ^ a b "White-rumped Vulture (Gyps bengalensis) — BirdLife species factsheet". BirdLife.org. BirdLife International. Retrieved 2011-06-01.
- ^
Swan, G.; Naidoo, V.; Cuthbert, R.; Green, Rhys E.; Pain, D. J.; Swarup, D.; Prakash, V.; Taggart, M.; et al. (2006). "Removing the Threat of Diclofenac to Critically Endangered Asian Vultures". PLOS Biology. 4 (3): e66. PMID 16435886.
- ^ Hem Sagar Baral (BCN); Chris Bowden (RSPB); Richard Cuthbert (RSPB); Dev Ghimire (BCN) (2008-11-01). "Local increase in vultures thanks to diclofenac campaign in Nepal". BirdLife International. Retrieved 2011-06-01.
- ^ Gilbert, M.; Watson, R. T.; Ahmed, S.; Asim, M.; Johnson, J. A. (2007). "Vulture restaurants and their role in reducing diclofenac exposure in Asian vultures". Bird Conservation International. 17: 63–77. .
- ^ "First Captive-Bred Asian Vulture Chicks Die". planetark.com. Reuters. 2007. Retrieved 2011-06-01.
Other sources
- Ahmad, S. 2004. Time activity budget of Oriental White-backed Vulture (Gyps bengalensis) in Punjab, Pakistan. M. Phil. thesis, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan.
- Grubh, R. B. 1974. The ecology and behaviour of vultures in Gir Forest. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Bombay, Bombay, India.
- Grubh, R. B. 1988. A comparative study of the ecology and distribution of the Indian White-backed Vulture (Gyps bengalensis) and the Long-billed Vulture (G. indicus) in the Indian region. Pages 2763–2767 in Acta 19 Congressus Internationalis Ornithologici. Volume 2. Ottawa, Canada 22–29 June 1986 (H. Ouellet, Ed.). University of Ottawa Press, Ottawa, Ontario.
- Eck, S. 1981. [Thanatose beim Bengalgeier (Gyps bengalensis)]. Ornithologische Jahresberichte des Museums Heineanum 5-6:71-73.
- Naidoo, Vinasan 2008. Diclofenac in Gyps vultures : a molecular mechanism of toxicity. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Pretoria. Fulltext (Includes old photos showing their numbers)