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Lappet-faced vulture or Nubian vulture

Torgos tracheliotos

Photo by Benno Ibold
Published on Project Noah
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-19.1629, 15.9955

Field Notes

Description:

The lappet-faced vulture or Nubian vulture (Torgos tracheliotos) is a mostly African Old World vulture belonging to the bird order Accipitriformes, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. It is the only member of the genus Torgos. The lappet-faced vulture was formerly considered monotypical, but now is separated into two subspecies. The nominate race lives throughout Africa. The subspecies T. t. negevensis, differing considerably in appearance from African vultures (as described below), occurs in the Sinai, the Negev desert, and probably north-west Saudi Arabia. It is not closely related to the superficially similar New World vultures, and does not share the good sense of smell of some members of that group.

Habitat:

This species is patchily distributed through much of Africa, though it is absent from much of the central and western parts of the continent and declining elsewhere in its range. The lappet-faced vulture nests in Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Sudan, southeastern Egypt, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, easternmost part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, northeastern South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, the Gambia, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Benin, the Central African Republic, southern Angola and possibly in Mauritania and Nigeria. Across the Red Sea, the species nests in Arabia, Yemen, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

Notes:

Location Data GPS tagged.

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Photographed
PublishedJuly 31, 2014

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