Rüppell's Vulture

Rüppell's Vulture is a large Old World vulture of the genus Gyps, closely related to the White-backed Vulture but slightly larger and heavier. It is named after the German naturalist Eduard Rüppell.

Appearance

Adults show a distinctive scaly, mottled pattern of dark brown feathers broadly edged in pale buff or whitish across the body and wing coverts, giving a spangled look. The head and neck are covered in sparse whitish down over grayish skin, and the eye is yellow to amber. The bill is heavy and pale horn-colored, built for tearing tough carcass hide.

Juveniles are more uniformly dark brown with narrower pale streaking that develops into the adult scaled pattern over several years.

Key field marks

• Large, bulky Gyps vulture with a scaly, spangled brown-and-buff pattern on the body and coverts
• Sparse whitish down on the head and neck over gray skin
• Pale yellow to amber eye
• Heavy pale bill

Similar species

The White-backed Vulture is similarly built but shows a more uniform dark plumage with a contrasting pale/white lower back visible in flight, and lacks the strong scaled pattern. Lappet-faced Vultures are larger still with bare pink skin on the head and prominent facial folds, and dark plumage without scaling. In flight, Rüppell's Vulture shows a pale line along the leading and trailing edges of the underwing coverts against darker flight feathers.

Habitat

The species inhabits open savanna, semi-arid grassland, and Sahelian scrub, nesting colonially on cliffs and rock faces in mountainous or escarpment terrain, often far from feeding grounds.

Range

Rüppell's Vulture occurs in a band across the Sahel and East Africa, including countries such as Senegal, Mali, Niger, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania, with the largest populations concentrated in East Africa.

Migration

Largely resident, though immature and non-breeding birds can range widely, sometimes hundreds of kilometers, in search of carcasses.

Behavior

Highly social, Rüppell's Vultures forage in flocks and gather in large numbers at carcasses, often dominating smaller vulture species through sheer numbers and aggressive posturing. They are renowned for soaring to extraordinary altitudes; a Rüppell's Vulture was documented colliding with an aircraft at roughly 11,300 meters (37,000 feet), the highest confirmed flight altitude of any bird.

Voice

Mostly silent in flight; at carcasses and nesting cliffs they produce hissing, grunting, and cackling calls during competitive interactions.

Feeding

Exclusively a carrion feeder, using keen eyesight and observation of other scavengers to locate large mammal carcasses, which it can strip quickly in large communal groups.

Nesting and breeding

Nests colonially on cliff ledges, sometimes in colonies of hundreds of pairs. A single egg is laid and incubated by both parents; chicks fledge after an extended nestling period of around four months.