Lappet-faced Vulture ( Aegypius tracheliotus, family: Accipitridae)

Lappet Faced VultureThe Lappet-faced Vulture (Latin name Aegypius tracheliotus) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 124 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 491 also a picture of the Lappet-faced Vulture on page 481. The Lappet-faced Vulture belongs to the family of birds classified as Accipitridae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Lappet-faced Vulture is also known by these other names: Nubian Vulture.

The Robert's 7 Latin name for Lappet-faced Vulture has changed from Torgos tracheliotus in Robert's 6 to Aegypius tracheliotus

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

lappet faced vulture Kruger National Park birds The Lappet-faced Vulture is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a common resident

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

Identification 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 Lappet-faced Vulture is a large bird much bigger than a Pied Crow. The height of the Lappet-faced Vulture is about 105 cms and its weight is about 6500 gms

The male and female Lappet-faced Vulture have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is pink, red.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is yellow.
  • Throat is pink.
  • Back is brown.
  • Legs are blue, grey.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Lappet-faced Vulture feeds on the ground mainly

General scavenger habits

Aquatic life forms

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Lappet-faced Vulture is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Aegypius tracheliotus will seek out a new mate

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

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Lappet-faced Vulture are: woodlands and arid areas. Comments about the Lappet-faced Vulture :never really kills its prey. Eats stranded fish.

You will normally see the Lappet-faced Vulture in flocks.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Isilwangangubo

Zulu ... iNqe

Afrikaans ...Swartaasvol

German ... Ohrengeier

Portuguese ... Abutre-real

French ... Vautour oricou

Dutch ... Oorgier

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

Robert's 7th edition number ... 124

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