White-headed Vulture ( Aegypius occipitalis, family: Accipitridae)

white headed vulture Kruger National Park birdsdescribed in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 125 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 492 also a picture of the White-headed Vulture on page 481. The White-headed Vulture belongs to the family of birds classified as Accipitridae.

The Robert's 7 Latin name for White-headed Vulture has changed from Trigonoceps occipitalis in Robert's 6 to Aegypius occipitalis

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The White-headed Vulture is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the White-headed Vulture in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. White-headed Vulture : see above distribution map.

Kruger Park Whiteheaded VultureIdentification assistance for this avian species ...

One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The White-headed Vulture is a large bird much bigger than a Pied Crow. The height of the White-headed Vulture is about 85 cms and its weight is about 4700 gms

You will find that the male White-headed Vulture plumage and colours are different to that of the female White-headed Vulture

  • Head is white.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is orange.
  • Throat is pink.
  • Back is black, brown.
  • Legs are pink.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The White-headed Vulture feeds on the ground mainly

General scavenger habits

Smaller animals

Aquatic life forms

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The White-headed Vulture is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Aegypius occipitalis will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of White-headed Vulture is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are brown, white in colour and number between 1

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for White-headed Vulture are: woodlands . Comments about the White-headed Vulture :feeds on stranded fish.

You will not see White-headed Vulture in flocks. The bird prefers to act singly or in pairs.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Witkopaasvol

German ... Wollkopfgeier

Portuguese ... Abutre-de-cabea-branca

French ... Vautour tte blanche

Dutch ... Witkopgier

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 125

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za