The lappet-faced vulture or Nubian vulture (Torgos tracheliotos) is an Old World vulture belonging to the bird order Accipitriformes, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. It is the only extant member of the genus Torgos. It is not closely related to the superficially similar New World vultures, and does not share the good sense of smell of some members of that family of birds.

The lappet-faced vulture was formerly considered monotypical, but now is separated into two subspecies. The nominate race lives throughout Africa. The subspecies T. t. negevensis, differing considerably in appearance from African vultures (as described below) is endemic to the Arabian Peninsula.

Name

The scientific name is Greek, meaning "Cartilage-eared Vulture".

Distribution

This species is patchily distributed through much of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, though it is absent from much of the central and western parts of the continent and declining elsewhere in its range. The lappet-faced vulture breeds in Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Eswatini, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia. On the Arabian Peninsula, it breeds in Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. It is also present in Gambia, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Benin, the Central African Republic and Angola,

Habitat

This vulture prefers to live in dry savannah, thornbush, arid plains, deserts with scattered trees in wadis, open mountain slopes. They are usually found in undisturbed open country with a scattering of trees and apparently prefer areas with minimal grass cover. While foraging, they can wander into denser habitats and even into human inhabited areas, especially if drawn to road kills. They may be found in elevation from sea-level to .

Description

thumb|In [[Kruger National Park, South Africa]]

The lappet-faced vulture is a very large species, ranking as the longest and largest winged vulture in its range, behind the closely related cinereous vulture, although some co-occurring Gyps vultures tend to be heavier on average, especially the Cape vulture and Eurasian griffon. This species measures around in body length, with a wingspan of . Among the standard measurements, the wing chord is , the tail is and the tarsus is . Wild vultures of the subspecies T. t. tracheliotus range from and in East Africa, average only . On the other hand, captive vultures of the larger T. t. negevensis subspecies weighed in males and in females.

This species nests in November through July in the north of its range, throughout the year in eastern Africa and May to January in southern Africa. The huge nest, a pile of neatly formed sticks, measures across and deep. The nest is often lined with green leaves, as well as animal hair and skins. Nests are almost always placed in the main fork or top of an Acacia tree, though Balanites and Terminalia trees are sometimes also used, at off the ground.

On 3 April 2022 the Israel Nature and Parks Authority announced the first hatching of a lappet-faced vulture since 1994

References

Further reading

  • BirdLife Species Factsheet
  • Lappet-faced vulture – Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
  • ARKive – images and movies of the lappet-faced vulture (Torgos tracheliotos)