Hooded Vulture

The Hooded Vulture is a small, slender Old World vulture found across sub-Saharan Africa. It is named for the fluffy, pale down that covers the back and sides of its otherwise bare head, giving a hooded appearance.

Appearance

Plumage is a uniform dull brown, darker on the wings and paler on the underparts. The bare facial skin is pinkish to grayish and flushes red when the bird is agitated. The bill is long, thin, and relatively weak compared to other vultures, an adaptation for feeding on scraps rather than tearing tough hide.

Juveniles are darker overall with more extensively feathered heads that gradually become bare with age.

Key field marks

• Small size and slim build compared to other African vultures
• Bare, pale pinkish-gray face and thin, weak-looking bill
• Fluffy whitish-brown down on the nape and hindneck (the "hood")
• Uniform dark brown body plumage with no strong pattern

Similar species

The White-backed Vulture is larger and bulkier with a heavier bill and (in adults) a pale back patch. The Egyptian Vulture has bold white plumage with black flight feathers and a wedge-shaped tail, quite unlike the plain brown Hooded Vulture. In flight, the Hooded Vulture shows narrower, more rectangular wings and a longer tail than most Gyps vultures, and often soars in small, loose groups near towns and abattoirs.

Habitat

Hooded Vultures favor open and semi-open country, including savanna, woodland edges, and, distinctively, the vicinity of towns, villages, and refuse sites, where they scavenge alongside dogs and other vultures.

Range

The species occurs widely across sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal and Mauritania east to Somalia and Ethiopia, and south through East and Central Africa to South Africa.

Migration

Most populations are largely resident and sedentary, remaining near reliable food sources such as settlements and carcass sites, though some local and seasonal movements occur in response to food availability.

Behavior

Hooded Vultures are highly social scavengers, often the first and most numerous vultures to arrive at carcasses in and around human settlements. They are subordinate to larger vulture species at carcasses and typically wait at the periphery, using their thin bills to probe into small crevices and scraps that larger vultures cannot access.

Voice

Generally silent away from nests or carcasses; at feeding sites and nests they give hissing and thin squealing calls during disputes over food.

Feeding

Opportunistic scavengers that feed on carrion, slaughterhouse waste, and human refuse; they also take insects, small vertebrates, and occasionally raid other birds' nests.

Nesting and breeding

Pairs build stick nests in the canopy of tall trees, often near settlements. A single egg is typically laid, and both parents share incubation and chick-rearing duties over an extended breeding cycle lasting several months.