Rüppell's Vulture

Gyps rueppelli

Critically Endangered · IUCN Red List

CRCritically EndangeredScavengerGrasslandPlatform nestHuge · 7.4 kg

ID tip

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.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Rüppell's Vulture

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

Where to see the Rüppell's Vulture

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 24 countries with regular records, and 8 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

Recorded as a rare visitor in France, South Africa, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali, South Sudan, Côte d’Ivoire, Saudi Arabia.

About the Rüppell's Vulture

Rüppell's vulture, also called Rüppell's griffon vulture or Rüppell's griffon, a species of vulture named after Eduard Rüppell, is a large, resident bird of prey, mainly native to the Sahel region and East Africa. It is considered to be the highest-flying bird, with confirmed evidence of a flight at an altitude of 11,300 m (37,000 ft), where the average temperature is about −56 °C (−69 °F). The former population of 22,000 individuals has been decreasing due to loss of habitat, incidental poisoning, and other factors. It is therefore listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

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

Easily confused with

Side by side: Rüppell's Vulture vs White-backed Vulture · Himalayan Vulture vs Rüppell's Vulture · Cape Vulture vs Rüppell's Vulture · Rüppell's Vulture vs White-headed Vulture · Rüppell's Vulture vs White-rumped Vulture · Indian Vulture vs Rüppell's Vulture

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