diagnostics

85 cm, 3.3-5.3 kg. Sexes exhibit sexual dimorphism in plumage. Head covered in woolly white down. Bare facial skin pink. Large ruff black on hindneck, white on foreneck. Back, scapulars, rump and uppertail coverts blackish, with buff feather edges. Median upperwing coverts fringed off-white. Below with white crop patch, black breast and white belly and ‘leggings'. Underwing dark except for white axillaries and a characteristic thin white line between the underwing coverts and the remiges that characterises this species (although this feature is barely discernable in younger birds); females also show a pale silvery to white wash on the secondaries (Mundy 1985). When seen in flight and at a distance, however, care must be taken not to confuse this species with the similarly dark Lappet-faced Vulture Torgos tracheliotos and Hooded Vulture Necrosyrtes monachus (Mundy et al. 1992, Allan 2000, Ferguson-Lees and Christie 2001). The juveniles and immatures of these three species are particularly prone to being confused. Murn (2012) describes a method of individually recognising White-headed Vultures using the pattern in their median wing coverts.

trophic

The breeding biology of the White-headed Vulture is fairly well known (Mundy et al. 1992, Piper 2005, Tarboton 2011). The age of first breeding is probably at least six years. At Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, 17-61% (35%) of pairs failed to breed in any given year. The species is monogamous. It is believed to be territorial and nests are typically solitary and spaced well apart, i.e. typically 11-29 km apart in suitable habitat but occasionally as close as 1-2 km (Howells and Hustler 1984, Hustler and Howells 1988, Mundy et al. 1992, Piper 2005d, Tarboton 2011). Nests are situated in the crowns of trees, and are built of sticks and usually lined with grass. They are often re-used. The main egg-laying period spans June-July (May-October). The clutch comprises a single egg. Females may re-lay after early failure. Incubation is by both sexes and spans 55-56 days. The nestling period is 115 days. The post-fledging dependence period is up to a further five months. Breeding success is reported at about 44%. The species is single brooded. Natural causes of breeding failure include predation of nestlings by Verreaux's Eagle Aquila verreauxii.

The White-headed Vulture is a species of woodland habitats (Mundy et al. 1992, Mundy 1997). It sources its food through a combination of scavenging, kleptoparasitism and direct predation on small animals (Mundy et al. 1992, Millar 1995, Piper 2005). This vulture, like the Lappet-faced Vulture, typically occurs in fairly small numbers, especially when compared with Gyps vultures, at large carcasses but is also regularly found at smaller carcasses and indeed may be more reliant on these for its regular food supply than the large carcasses which attract big numbers of Gyps vultures (Mundy et al. 1992, Piper 2005). Adults are thought to be largely sedentary and juveniles and immatures to wander more widely (Mundy 1997, Piper 2005). Like other vultures, the White-headed Vulture drinks and bathes regularly (Mundy et al. 1992).