White-backed Vulture

The White-backed Vulture is a typical vulture, with only down feathers on the head and neck, very broad wings and short tail feathers. It has a white neck ruff. The adult’s whitish back contrasts with the otherwise dark plumage. Juveniles are largely dark. This is a medium-sized vulture; its body mass is 4.2 to 7.2 kilograms , it is 94 cm long and has a 218 cm wingspan.

Picture of the White-backed Vulture has been licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution.
Original source: Not a Common Visitor to Somerset
Author: Mark Robinson from Williton, UK

The White-backed Vulture is classified as Near Threatened (NT), is close to qualifying for or is likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future.

be closer to the White-backed Vulture of Africa and was known as the Oriental White-backed Vulture. The species was present in large numbers, in Southern and Southeastern Asia until the 1990s. Numbers of the species declined rapidly in the decades from 1990. More

The White-backed Vulture (Gyps africanus) is an Old World vulture in the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. It is closely related to the European Griffon Vulture, G. fulvus. Sometimes it is called African White-backed Vulture to distinguish it from the Oriental White-backed Vulture—nowadays usually called Indian White-rumped Vulture-to which it was formerly believed to be closely related. More

Behavior: The African White-Backed vulture is a gregarious bird, and feeds in large groups. Often 100 or more of these birds can be seen on a single carcass. One of the most audacious vultures in its area, the White-Backed frequently ventures into towns and markets, searching for abandoned food. More

Asian white-backed vulture on ground Asian white-backed vulture on groundPrint factsheet Facts - Also known as: white-rumped vulture Spanish: Buitre Dorsiblanco Bengalí, Buitre Leonado Bengalés Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class Aves Order Falconiformes Family Accipitridae More

white-backed vulture has black eyes and a strong, slightly hooked black bill, contrasting with its pale crown and hindneck (4). As they age, the plumage of white-backed vultures becomes paler and plainer, especially the female’s; conversely, juveniles are darker, with lighter brown streaks on their feathers (2). More

The White-backed Vulture is a typical vulture, with only down feathers on the head and neck, very broad wings and short tail feathers. It has a white neck ruff. The adult’s whitish back contrasts with the otherwise dark plumage. Juveniles are largely dark. White-backed Vulture Diet / Feeding Like other vultures it is a scavenger, feeding mostly from carcasses of animals which it finds by soaring over savannah. More

White-backed vulture pair at their nest, Umfolozi Game Reserve, South Africa. Distribution and habitat Occurs in Africa south of the Sahel, absent from much of the DRC but otherwise occupying the area from Senegal to Somalia south through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia to southern Africa. Here it is locally common across the northern half of the region, while largely absent from Lesotho, the Eastern and Western Cape and the Karoo of the Northern Cape. More

White-backed Vulture preening Relevance Date Caption RM/RF Orientation Legend : * Price Image * Find Similar * Royalty Free * Images by the same user Showing 0 - 100 of 63147 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ... More

Other Pics: White-backed Vulture in Flight Other Names English White-backed Vulture, White-backed Griffon Vulture French Vautour africain, Gyps africain German Weißrückengeier Spanish Buitre Dorsiblanco Africano Swedish Vitryggad gam Dutch Witruggier Italian Avvoltoio grifone minore World: Africa: widespread S of 15°N except for Eastern Somalia, large parts of South Africa and Namibia and the equatorial forests of West Africa. More

Africa, the White-backed Vulture is probably Africa's most abundant vulture (Mundy et al. 1992). It is less widespread than the Lappet-faced Vulture but is almost certainly more abundant because of its colonial nature. African populations have been estimated at 270,000 individuals (Mundy et al. 1992) with c. 40,000 individuals (15%) in southern Africa (Anderson 2000, Anderson 2004). More

African White-backed Vulture in Portugal, October 2006 – new for Europe? - Brian J Small - Plate 1 African White-backed Vulture, Cape St. Vincent, Portugal, 14th October 2006 © Brian J Small One of the highlights of a trip to Portugal in October is the chance that, given the right weather conditions, you might get a good passage of raptors at Cape St. Vincent, in the extreme southwest. More

African White-Backed Vultures (Photograph Courtesy of Bill Strahle Copyright More

Asian White-backed Vulture is now regarded as critical with extinction inevitable unless the reasons responsible for their population decline can be ascertained and corrected. Bird loss now exceeds 95% in some portions of their range. (The Long-billed Griffon has been as severely affected and is also considered to be endangered). Rescue & Recovery: It is hoped that between European and North American zoos enough birds will be found to form a sustainable breeding nucleus. More

The Oriental White-backed Vulture (Gyps benegalensis) was once escribed as the commonest species of vulture found in the Indian sub-continent (Gilbert et al 2002). It was quoted as the most widely distributed species in Pakistan (Roberts 1991), occurring in provinces of Punjab, Sindh and North West Fortier Province (NWFP). More

population of oriental white-backed vultures might go extinct in as little as five years. South Asian countries have been really concerned about this rapid population decline and the involvement of international organisations has put immense pressure on the governments to urgently address this issue. A summit meeting entitled ‘A new environmental threat posed by the drug diclofenac’ was arranged in Kathmundu, Nepal. More

The White-backed Vulture is a typical vulture, with only down feathers on the head and neck, very broad wings and short tail. Like other vultures it is a scavenger, feeding mostly from carcasses of animals which it finds by soaring over savannah and around human habitation. It often moves in flocks. It requires tall trees for nesting. Een volwassen witruggier is van kop tot staart gemeten ongeveer 1 meter groot. More

Picture of Gyps africanus above has been licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike license.
Original source: Finlands
Author: Finlands
Permission: Some rights reserved
Order : Falconiformes
Family : Accipitridae
Genus : Gyps
Species : africanus
Authority : Salvadori, 1865