About the Red-headed Vulture
The red-headed vulture, also known as the Asian king vulture, Indian black vulture or Pondicherry vulture, is an Old World vulture mainly found in the Indian subcontinent, with small disjunct populations in some parts of Southeast Asia.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
ID tip
It is a medium-sized vulture of 76 to 86 cm (30 to 34 in) in length, weighing 3.5–6.3 kg (7.7–13.9 lb) and having a wingspan of about 1.99–2.6 m (6.5–8.5 ft). It has a prominent naked head: deep-red to orange in the adult, paler red in the juvenile. It has a black body with pale grey band at the base of the flight feathers. The sexes differ in colour of the iris: males have a paler, whitish iris, whilst in females it is dark brown.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where the Red-headed Vulture lives
Recorded as a rare visitor in China, Myanmar (Burma).
When to see the Red-headed Vulture
Peak activity in February · a winter visitor species across most of its range
Easily confused with
Black-breasted BuzzardHamirostra melanosternonIntermediate in body size between the well-known larger wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax) and the smaller little eagle (Hieraaetus morphnoides), the black-breasted buzzard is one of Australia's largest birds of prey and one of the world's largest kites alongside the red kite, which is slightly less heavy but has a longer total length.
Black-and-white Hawk-EagleSpizaetus melanoleucusAs its name suggests, this is a black and white eagle, resembling the small typical eagles sometimes separated in "Hieraaetus".
Eastern Chanting GoshawkMelierax poliopterusThis species averages 49 to 55 cm (19 to 22 in) long, with a wingspan of 96 to 110 cm (38 to 43 in) and a tail length of 20 to 25 cm (7.9 to 9.8 in).
Learn the Red-headed Vulture in BeakBrain
Photo and call practice, free in any browser.
Play BeakBrainEvery photo and recording on this page is credited to its author under the licence shown. Spotted a problem with this page, or have a better photo? Contribute.