Snapshot Serengeti Talk

White-backed vulture

  • tillydad by tillydad moderator

    This is a lovely sighting of this vulture . In common with many species of vulture, the population of the white-backed vulture is declining . In light of this the Red List of the IUCN now lists this bird as "critically endangered" .
    This species has declined severely in parts of its range and overall it is suspected to have undergone a very rapid decline owing to habitat loss, declines in wild ungulate populations, hunting for trade, persecution, collisions and poisoning.
    Whilst not a favourite of everyone, the vultures play a vital role in disposing of dead meat and this in turn limits the spread of disease . It would be real shame if we were to lose species such as these .

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  • davidbygott by davidbygott moderator

    I was just looking at another photo in this sequence ( Image ASG001y4xi ) and thought it might be Rรผppell's Griffon, because of the lightness of the bill - but really hard to say in this fuzzy image. The warm brown of plumage is more like WBV than RGV. However, an immature RGV looks almost identical to a WBV except no white on back ๐Ÿ˜ƒ

    The way these two close relatives share the Serengeti is interesting. The RGV nests in colonies on cliffs, way outside the park's easten border, at the edge of the Rift Valley. The WBV nests in tall trees scattered all over the ecosystem. Both are superb at soaring flight but on balance the RGV probably has to 'commute' further to feed, than does the WBV. The latter has historically been the more abundant of the two, perhaps because it is not limited by availability of nest sites.

    Nowadays, poisoning has really hammered these and all other vulture species. Ranchers poison carcasses to kill large carnivores, and vultures are by-catch. But I've heard that poachers in parks and reserves also poison carcasses, specifically to target vultures who might otherwise betray the poachers' presence. Very sad.

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  • tillydad by tillydad moderator in response to davidbygott's comment.

    Agree that the bill appears to be light here, but difficult to be certain . I went with WBV because of overall appearance but agree that it could possibly be a RGV . Confusion reigns ! ๐Ÿ˜ƒ
    Both species are listed as "critically endangered" by the IUCN

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