Rüppells Vulture

Appearance

These are large vultures, noticeably outsizing the closely related White-backed Vulture, with which they often co-occur in the wild. Adults are 85 to 103 cm long, with a wingspan of 2.26 to 2.6 metres , and a weight that ranges from 6.4 to 9 kg . Both genders 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. Silent as a rule, they become vocal at their nest and when at a carcass, squealing a great deal.

Status

Since first being assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature during 1988, populations of Rüppell's Vulture have decreased. The species has been listed with an IUCN Red List status of "near threatened" since 2007 and the IUCN predicts that populations of the species will continue to decrease. During 2012 the species was given Endangered status.

Since 1992, Rüppell's Vulture has been occurring as a vagrant in Spain and Portugal, with annual records since 1997, mainly in the Cadiz / Straits of Gibraltar area, but also further north.

Habitat

Rüppell's Vultures are very social, roosting, nesting, and gathering to feed in large flocks. They can travel fast when needed, cruising at as much as 35 kilometres per hour , and will fly as far as 150 kilometres from a nest site to find food.

Rüppell's Vultures commonly fly at altitudes as high as 6,000 metres . The birds have a specialized variant of the hemoglobin alphaD subunit; this protein has a great affinity for oxygen, which allows the species to absorb oxygen efficiently despite the low partial pressure in the upper troposphere. A Rüppell's Vulture was confirmed to have been ingested by a jet engine of an airplane flying over Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire on November 29, 1973 at an altitude of 11,300 m . During August 2010 a Rüppell's Vulture escaped a bird of prey site in Scotland, prompting warnings to pilots in the area to watch carefully due to the danger of collision.

Rüppell's Vultures have several adaptations to their diet and are specialized feeders even among the Old World vultures of Africa. They have an especially powerful build and, after the most attractive soft parts of a carcass have been consumed, they will continue with the hide, and even the bones, gorging themselves until they can barely fly. They have backward-pointing spines on the tongue to help remove meat from bone. Despite their size, power and adaptations, they are not the most dominant vulture in their range, which is considered to be the even larger Lappet-faced Vulture.