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White-backed Vulture (Gyps africanus)

Other names:
Afrikaans: Witrugaasvoël
French: Vautour africain
German: Weißrückengeier
Dutch: Witruggier

The White-backed Vulture is a typical vulture, with a bald head, very broad wings and short tail. It has a white neck ruff. The adult’s whitish back contrasts with the otherwise dark plumage. Juveniles are largely dark.

Like other vultures it is a scavenger, feeding mostly from carcasses of dead animals which it finds by soaring over savannah and around human habitation. It often moves in flocks. White-backed Vultures are adapted to feeding on soft tissues (muscles, intestines etc) and cannot rip open the large carcasses which form the major part of their diet. They are therefore reliant on other vultures or mammals to break into the carcass.

It breeds in trees laying one egg. The population is mostly resident.

The White-backed Vulture is a typical vulture, with a bald head, very broad wings and short tail. It has a white neck ruff. The adult’s whitish back contrasts with the otherwise dark plumage. Juveniles are largely dark.

And as most of us know they are difficult to distinguish from Cape Vultures

The white-backed vulture has a dark eye, the Cape vulture has a honey-coloured eye. So if you get a good view of the eye, they are easy to distinguish.

Indeed! The main thing being getting a good view of the eye and correct lighting. When the light is from the wrong direction it is sometimes even difficult to pick up a Drongo's red eye!

I just read up on it. It's only the adult Cape Vulture that has the honey-coloured/straw-coloured eye. The juvenile Cape Vulture has a dark eye like the White-backed Vulture.

Kruger - Sept 2006

Unfortunately the eye colour is not clearly visible on any of my photos, but what is the possibility that the vulture in front is a Cape Vulture? To put this sighting into context…we found several species of vultures at this sighting near Olifants….in this specific tree, the was a White-headed Vulture, Lappet-faced Vulture, Hooded Vulture and a few White-backed Vultures

Larger View

I would go with Adult (background with dark neck) and Immature (Foreground) White-Backed Vultures.

An adult Cape Vulture is uniformly paler than a White-Backed Vulture. Whilst the imm has a pinkish neck.

After all the many years of trips to the Kruger, I noticed this for the 1st time

H4-1, 1km west of Nkuhlu.

Never knew vultures breed in Kruger, was pleasantly surprised. Found another nest down near Pretoriuskop two days later, parents flew off before I could get a definitive id. They were either Lappet or White-headed from the flask of pink I got as they disappeared low over the trees.

A nice breeding site for White-Backed Vultures can be found from the lookout point on the Biyamithi private road.

S100 - Aug 2008

It astounded me to find so many nesting sites last week. This particular photo was taken on the S1 which proved to be a favorable road for the White-Backs.

Also found a nest across the river from Tent 1 and 2 in Tamboti. Seems like the vultures will have another good year.