White-headed Vulture
The White-headed Vulture is a large species of Old World vulture that lives across central and southern parts of Africa.
White-headed Vultures are among the most colorful vulture species. They have bare pink heads and bright orange-pink beaks with a blue-grey base. The body plumage is dark; females have white secondary wing feathers. They are named for the downy white feathers along the back of the head and neck.
White-headed Vultures are considered Vulnerable to extinction. They face many of the same threats impacting vultures around the world: habitat loss through use conversion; (secondary) poisoning; and changes in livestock management.
Details & Statistics
- Least Concern (LC)
- Near Threatened (NT)
- Vulnerable (VU)
- Endangered (EN)
- Critically Endangered (CR)
- Extinct in the Wild (EW)
- Extinct (EX)
Conservation
The White-headed Vulture is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List and was last assessed in 2015 by BirdLife International. This species has been uplisted to Critically Endangered. Recent data suggests the already small population is declining at an extremely rapid rate owing to a variety of threats including poisoning, persecution and ecosystem alterations. The species has a very small population which constitutes a single metapopulation as there is presumed to be movement of individuals within its large range. Local extinctions may be accelerated by major poisoning events in isolated localised subpopulations.
International Names
