The Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus)
The Egyptian Vulture is - by appearance - a small, slight and scruffy Old World Vulture, monotypical to the Neophron genus. Another name attributed to this vulture is White Scavenger Vulture, a name that mostly covers the appearance of this bird. For those with interest in Ancient Egypt, this vulture can also be found in Egyptian heroglyphs.
This vulture is more or less widely distributed across most of the Old World. That does not mean that it is endemic to Europe or Africa. In Europe it had mostly dissappeared - in other words, it had become distinct - by the 1960s. Only a massive conservation programme supporting four vultures: Bearded Vulture, Griffon Vulture, Monk Vulture and, last but not least, also the Egyptian Vulture, had been successful to help these species survive to see the advent of the 21st century.
Description - Characteristics: Egyptian Vulture
Breeding – Clutch – Measurements – Habitat – Diet - Threats
Taxonomy:
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Neophron
Species: Egyptian Vulture
Scientific Name: Neophron percnopterus
Namen und Synonyme des Schmutzgeiers
Name in German: Schmutzgeier
Name in Czech: Sup mrchožravý
Name in Slovak: Zdochlinár biely
Name in Hungarian: Dögkeselyű
Name in Croat: Crkavica
Name in Serbian: Bela kanja
Name in French: Vautour percnoptère
Name in Dutch: Aasgier
Name in Spanish: Alimoche Común
Name in Portuguese: Abutre do Egipto
Name in Danish: Ådselgrib
Name in Swedish: Smutsgam
Name in Polish: Ścierwnik
Name in Russian: Sterwjatnik
Name in Greek: Ασπρόγυπας, Ασπροπάρης
Name in Turkey: Küçük Akbaba, Mısır Akbabası
Name in Arabic: الرخمة, الرخمة المصرية
Name in Bengali: ধলা শকুন
Name in Persian: کرکس مصری , کرکس مصری (کوچک)
Name in Sotho: सेतो गिद्ध
Name in Zulu: uPhalane
Description of the Egyptian Vulture
Distribution: Palearctic, Afrotropical and Indomalayan. Still rare in the Western Palearctic. Population is in decline in parts Africa, even extinct in some countries. Common on Atlantic Islands – Cape Verdes, Canaries; northwest Africa, southern Europe – Portugal/Spain, southern France, Pyrenees, southern Balkan; southern Ukraine, Crimea, Caucasus; Aral, Blakhas and Kazakhstan region; Asia minor – Middle East, Arabian peninsula, southwest and south Asia. Indian subcontinent: southeast Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, West Bengal, Himalayas. Africa – mainly Sahel band to north Tanzania, Angola, Namibia, Mozambique, South Africa.
Movements: Sedentary and nomadic on Atlantic Islands, Saharan mountains, sub-Saharan Africa, south Africa; mostly migratory in European Palearctic. Leaving Breeding area from mid August to mid September; returning to breeding area between February to April. Most birds use the Gibraltar and Bosporus/Levant routes to move around the Mediterranean.
Wintering For European birds the wintering quarters stretch from northern Africa southwards to the sub-Saharan Sahel band, also on the Arabian peninsula, partly in India.
Habitat: Lives and forages mainly in lowland, mountain open country, arid regions; also on beaches, river sand banks, wetland edges, also near human settlements, and urban areas; desert edges, high rocky plains, ravines, steppes, grassland, savannah, cultivations, rubbish dumps, harbours and villages.
Behaviour: Mostly solitary, rarely in small parties not exceeding 10-20 individuals.
Field Characteristics: Die Altvögel sind überwiegend weiß; Arm- und Handschwingen schwarz; Ober- und Unterflügeldecken sind weiß. Der Kopf ist nackt und orange-gelblich gefärbt. Juv. und imm. Individuen dunkelbraun, nackte Hautteile am Kopf sind schmutzig-fleischfarben. Schwanz ist keilförmig; das Flugbild erinnert an den Bartgeier. Legt erst im 6. Lebensjahr das adulte Alterskleid an.
Schnabel: dunkelbraun mit schwarzer Spitze.
Wachshaut und Gesicht: ad. = gelb bis orange; juv. = grau
Füße: ad. = fleischfarben oder gelb; juv. = grau.
Iris: ad. = rotbraun; juv. = braun.
Measurements
Size: 58-70 cm
Weight: 1600-2400 g, Ø: 2100 g
Wingspan: 155-180 cm
Wing:
♂: 48,6-51,6 cm
♀: 48,0-51,4 cm
Voice: Mostly silent, if any then low whistles, groans, grunts and ruttling noises are uttered
Breeding
Sexually Mature: not before 4th – 5th year.
Mating: mostly lifelong breeding pair. Copulations begin 25 days before layaing eggs, on average 9 copulatins per day.
Clutches per breeding season1 clutch
Breeding: Depends on geographical region: Southern Europe and Mediterranean: end March to early September; North Africa Canary Islands: as early as February to August/September; Cape Verde Islands: December to August; Nigeria: November to April; Sudan and Eritrea: February to August; Somalia: January to July; Kenya: May to December; India: February to Augsut
Nest: Small platform of twigs and little branches; initial nest is small and shallow measuring only 60-75 cm across and 20-30 cm deep. After years of consecutive use dimensions may reach 1,5 m across and 75 cm deep. Usually nest is lined with rags, matted hair, skin, mammal dung, paper, rubbish and all kind of suitable material available in the surroundings.
Clutch: usually two eggs (rarely 3 eggs)
Eggs: borad-oval elliptical eggs, base coloure light brown with dark brown stains.
Egg Measurements and Weights:
Length: 58.2-76.4 mm
Width: 43.0-56.1 mm
Ø 66.2x50.0 mm
Shell weight: 6.7-12.2 g; Ø 8.9 g
Egg Weight: 81.5—97.0 g; Ø 94.0 g
Recurrent Clutch: possible when clutch is lost.
Laying Interval: 2-4 days.
Beginn of Incubation: After laying the first egg.
Incubation: 42 Tage pro Ei, both parents share the task of incubating
Hatching: no recorded data available
Fledging: both parents feed the chicken. Fledging after 70-90 days. In most cases only the oldest chicken survives to fledge.
Dependency: In Europe fledging is mostly between end of July to end of August. After that the family still keeps together for several weeks. The immature will be fed by ist parents for a period of 9-34 days.
Miscellaneous
Food: All kind of rubbish, even feces; opportunist scavenger; unable to tear off pieces of meat off carcas. Wide variety of scraps of carrion, organic waste; only to a lesser extent insects, smaller young or injured vertrebrates of all classes. When attending to larger carcases, the Egyptian Vulture only sits on the periphery wating for the larger vulture to finish feeding and then taking the left-overs. Forages by search flight, low gliding and also soaring high over smaller distances. The largest distance recorded were 30-70 km. When on search flight the Egyptian Vulture watches the activities of the larger vultures and mammal scavengers on the ground. Takes sick and dead nestlings at Pelican and Flamingo colonies.
Longevity: The oldest known ringed Egyptian Vulture reached an age of >37 years (Zoo Tel Aviv).
Mortality: Up to their 4th year, the survival rate of Egyptian Vultures is about 18.6%Die Überlebensrate von subadulten Schmutzgeiern, bis zum 4. Lebensjahr, liegt bei 18,6%.
Threats: Persecution by shooting or poisoning, collisions with power lines, losses during autumn and spring migration, also during wintering.
References
Bauer, Hans-Günther, Bezzel, Einhard et. al. (HG), Kompendium der Vögel Mitteleuropas, Band 1+2, Sonderausgabe 2012, Aula Verlag, Wiebelsheim
Bauer, Hans-Günther, Bezzel, Einhard et. al. (HG), Kompendium der Vögel Mitteleuropas, Band 3, Literatur und Anhang, Aula Verlag Wiebelsheim, 2. vollständig überarbeitete Auflage 1993
Baumgart, Wolfgang, Europas Geier, Flugriesen im Aufwind, AULA-Verlag Wiebelsheim, 2001
Bezzel, Einhard, Kompendium der Vögel Mitteleuropas, Non-Passeriformes, Band 1, AULA-Verlag Wiesbaden, 1985
Bruun/Singer/König/Der Kosmos Vogelführer, Franck'sche Verlagshandlung Stuttgart, 5. Auflage 1982
Ferguson-Lees, James and Christie, David A., Raptors of the World, Houghton Mifflin Company Boston New York, 2001
Glutz von Blotzheim, Urs et. al (HG), Handbuch der Vögel Mitteleuropas, Band 4, Falconiformes, AULA-Verlag Wiesbaden, 2. durchgesehene Auflage 1989
Mebs, Theodor et. al, Die Greifvögel Europas, Franck-Kosmos Verlags GmbH, 2. Auflage 2014
Svenson, Lars et. al, Der Kosmos Vogelführer, Franck-Kosmos Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Stuttgart, 2. Auflage 2011
External Links
Vultures Conservation Foundation - European Vulture Protection and Conservation
Image Credits
Egg of the Egyptian Vulture - source: Von Klaus Rassinger und Gerhard Cammerer, Museum Wiesbaden - Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38047945
Egyptian Vulture #1 - source: Zwilling330/agency iStock
Egpytian Vutlure (flying) #2 - source: Von Artemy Voikhansky - Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54625907