Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture (Cathartes burrovianus) | Photos and ID

LCLeast ConcernScavenger

GrasslandCavity nestLarge · 935 g

Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture (Cathartes burrovianus), photo 4 — Photo: Isis I. Castro Alberto · CC BY 4.0

Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture (Cathartes burrovianus), photo 5 — Photo: Frank Thomas Sautter · CC0

Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture (Cathartes burrovianus), photo 6 — Photo: Rosario Douglas · CC BY 4.0

Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture (Cathartes burrovianus), photo 7 — Photo: datadan · CC BY 4.0

Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture (Cathartes burrovianus), photo 8 — Photo: datadan · CC BY 4.0

Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture (Cathartes burrovianus), photo 9 — Photo: Rosario Douglas · CC BY 4.0

ID tip

This is the lightest and smallest of the extant New World vultures despite sometimes measuring at least as long and longer winged than black vultures. The lesser yellow-headed vulture is 53–66 cm (21–26 in) in length, with a wingspan of 150–165 cm (59–65 in) and a tail length of 19–24 cm (7.5–9.4 in). Its weight ranges from 0.95 to 1.55 kg (2.1 to 3.4 lb). Its plumage is black with a green sheen. The throat and the sides of the head are featherless. The head and neck are bare of feathers, and the skin is yellow, with a reddish forehead and nape and a gray-blue crown.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is October, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture

Regular range

The map shades 20 countries with regular records. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

Brazil Colombia Mexico Belize Argentina Panama Peru Paraguay Costa Rica Honduras Bolivia Venezuela Guyana Guatemala Uruguay French Guiana Nicaragua Suriname Ecuador El Salvador

About the Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture

The lesser yellow-headed vulture, also known as the savannah vulture, is a species of bird in the New World vulture family Cathartidae. It was considered to be the same species as the greater yellow-headed vulture until they were split in 1964. It is found in Mexico, Central America, and South America in seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, swamps, and heavily degraded former forest. It is a large bird, with a wingspan of 150–165 cm (59–65 in). The body plumage is black, and the head and neck, which are featherless, are pale orange with red or blue areas. It lacks a syrinx, so therefore its vocalizations are limited to grunts or low hisses.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Greater Yellow-headed VultureCathartes melambrotusThe greater yellow-headed vulture is 64–75 centimetres (25–30 in) in length, with a wingspan of 166–178 centimetres (65–70 in), a tail length of 25–29 centimetres (9.8–11.4 in) and a weight averaging 1.65 kilograms (3.6 lb).

Turkey VultureCathartes auraA large bird, it has a wingspan of 1.5–2 m (4.9–6.6 ft) a length of 62–81 cm (24–32 in), and weight of 0.8 to 2.41 kg (1.8 to 5.3 lb).

Side by side: Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture vs Turkey Vulture · Black Vulture vs Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture · King Vulture vs Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture · Andean Condor vs Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture · Greater Yellow-headed Vulture vs Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture

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