| Description |
small vulture with reddish pink face that may become bluish when excited; dark brown with rather short, rounded tail; weak slender beak adapted for picking small morsels of meat from between ribs and bones; weak feet adapted for walking or running, not for clutching branches; long wings that allow them to soar for long periods; sometimes mistaken for the Lappet-faced vulture, but is only half the Lappet's size; named for the ruff of down feathers around its neck |
| Sex |
females larger than males |
| Age |
20-25 years in the wild |
| Length |
26" |
| Wingspan |
5' |
| Weight |
4.5 lbs. |
| Habitat |
open plains, savannas, forests, coastal areas and villages |
| Status |
Has adapted to living in proximity to humans, and is tolerated by villagers as a "clean-up" committee; Swahili name is Tai |
| Range |
range widely in Africa south of the Sahara; most numerous in West Africa |
| Behavior |
sometimes found in large numbers, but usually solitary; mated pairs form a strong bond, roosting together outside the breeding season; usually roost close to their preferred breeding site; breed year round; mating takes place in trees, usually near the nest usually located 20-120 feet above ground; huge stick nests are constructed in their favored baobab trees; female lays one egg with reddish spots on a whitish base; incubation is 46 days, mainly by the female; chick is helpless and carefully guarded by both parents for 21 days; fledges at about 120 days; is still fed by parents until about one month after first flight |
| Diet |
usually the first scavenger to arrive at a kill, but quickly driven aside because of its relatively small size, it is usually the last to eat at a kill; in towns and villages it has learned to search for food in refuse dumps; at seashores they feed at low tide on stranded or dead sea creatures; also eat grasshoppers, grubs and locusts |
| Vocalization |
adults are silent; chicks cheep when begging for food |
| Other Information |
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