Bird Guide

Rüppell's Vulture vs White-backed Vulture

Rüppell's Vulture (Gyps rueppelli)

Rüppell's Vulture

Gyps rueppelli

Huge7.4 kgGrassland

The Rüppell's vulture is a very large vulture, noticeably outsizing the closely related white-backed vulture, with which they often occur in the wild. Adults are 85 to 103 cm (33 to 41 in) long, with a wingspan of 2.26 to 2.6 m (7 ft 5 in to 8 ft 6 in), and a weight that ranges from 6.4 to 9 kg (14 to 20 lb). Both sexes look alike: mottled brown or black overall with a whitish-brown underbelly and thin, dirty-white fluff covering the head and neck. The base of the neck has a white collar, the eye is yellow or amber, the crop patch deep brown. The head does not have feathers.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Christoph Moning · CC BY 4.0
White-backed Vulture (Gyps africanus)

White-backed Vulture

Gyps africanus

Huge5.4 kgShrubland

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 kg (9.3–15.9 lb), it is 78 to 98 cm (31 to 39 in) long and has a 1.96 to 2.25 m (6 ft 5 in to 7 ft 5 in) wingspan.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa · CC BY 2.0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Rüppell's Vulture and White-backed Vulture.