Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture
The Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture is a New World bird that lives across parts of Central and South America. They are also known as Savannah Vultures and are very closely related to the Greater Yellow-headed Vulture.
Lesser Yellow-headed Vultures soar on thermals, using few wing flaps and thus minimal energy as they search for food. They locate carrion using their sense of smell, which is unusual among birds.
Their preferred habitats include wet grasslands, mangroves, and swamps. Their alternate name indicates a preference for more open habitat.
Details & Statistics
- Least Concern (LC)
- Near Threatened (NT)
- Vulnerable (VU)
- Endangered (EN)
- Critically Endangered (CR)
- Extinct in the Wild (EW)
- Extinct (EX)
Conservation
The Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and was last assessed in 2012 by BirdLife International. This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is very large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
International Names
