White-headed vulture
White-headed vulture | |
---|---|
At Las Águilas Jungle Park, Tenerife, Spain | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Accipitriformes |
Family: | Accipitridae |
Genus: | Trigonoceps Lesson , 1842
|
Species: | T. occipitalis
|
Binomial name | |
Trigonoceps occipitalis (Burchell, 1824)
| |
Range of T. occipitalis Resident Possibly Extant (resident) Non-breeding Probably extinct Extinct
|
The white-headed vulture (Trigonoceps occipitalis) is an Old World vulture endemic to Africa. Populations have been declining steeply in recent years due to habitat degradation and poisoning of vultures at carcasses. An extinct relative was also present in the Indonesian island of Flores during the Late Pleistocene, indicating that the genus was more widespread in the past.[2]
Description
The white-headed vulture is a medium-sized vulture, 72–85 centimetres (28–33 in) in length and with a wingspan of 207–230 centimetres (81–91 in). Females have an average weight of 4.7 kilograms (10 lb), while males are generally lighter at 4 kilograms (8.8 lb) or less. This species is unique among African vultures as it shows a degree of reversed sexual dimorphism, where females are somewhat larger than males.[3]
It has a pink beak and a white crest, and the featherless areas on its head are pale. It has dark brown upper parts and black tail feathers. The feathers on its lower parts and legs are white, giving it its diagnostic image from below.[4][5] These vultures are easily distinguishable from all other vulture species as the plumage exhibits a strong contrast between black and white. Individual white-headed vultures can also be reliably identified based on a unique pattern in their median wing coverts.[3]
Distribution and habitat
The white-headed vulture is widely spread throughout
Ecology
The species is long-lived and appears to be loyal to a territory where it remains resident. It builds nests in trees (mostly acacias or
Additionally, the visual field of this vulture species is more similar to other predatory species such as the accipitrid hawk than to that of more closely related, carrion feeding Gyps vultures. Specifically, they have a significantly wider binocular field (30°, compared to the 20° of Gyps vultures), which is thought to help with the accurate placement and timing of the talons necessary to capture live prey.[10]
Conservation and threats
White-headed vulture populations have been declining since the early 1940s; it was classified as Vulnerable in the 2007 IUCN Red List. Recent indications that the species is rarer than previously thought have led to a status upgrade to Critically Endangered in 2015.[1]
The main threats to white-headed vulture populations are reductions in the availability of suitable food sources (carcasses of medium-sized mammals and ungulates) and the loss of habitat to the spread of urban and agricultural developments. Poisoning through baits set for other carnivores such as
On the 20th of June 2019, the carcasses of 468 white-backed vultures, 17 white-headed vultures, 28 hooded vultures, 14 lappet-faced vultures and 10 cape vultures, altogether 537 vultures, besides 2 tawny eagles, were found in northern Botswana. It is suspected that they died after eating the carcasses of 3 elephants that were poisoned by poachers, possibly to avoid detection by the birds, which help rangers to track poaching activity by circling above where there are dead animals.[11][12][13][14]
-
At Adlerwarte Berlebeck, Germany
-
Flying in Kruger National Park, South Africa
-
At Kasteeltuinen Arcen, Netherlands
-
At Las Aguilas Jungle Park, Tenerife, Spain
References
- ^ . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ Hanneke J.M.; et al. "Continental-style avian extinctions on an oceanic island" (PDF). Repository.si.edu. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
- ^ S2CID 85193650
- ^ "Trigonoceps occipitalis". ARkive.org. Archived from the original on 2012-05-29.
- ^ Ferguson-Lees, James; Christie, David A. (2001). Raptors of the world. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
- ^ PMID 26941945.
- ^ a b c d "White-headed Vulture - Trigonoceps occipitalis: factsheet". Birdlife International.
- ^ S2CID 86148489
- J. Raptor Res., pp. 297–299
- .
- Agence France-Press. NDTV. 2019-06-21. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
- ^ Hurworth, Ella (2019-06-24). "More than 500 endangered vultures die after eating poisoned elephant carcasses". CNN. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
- ^ Solly, Meilan (2019-06-24). "Poachers' Poison Kills 530 Endangered Vultures in Botswana". Smithsonian. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
- ^ Ngounou, Boris (2019-06-27). "BOTSWANA: Over 500 vultures found dead after massive poisoning". Afrik21. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
External links
- White-headed vulture - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds.
- Vulture culture on Lairweb
- Raptors of Namibia