Newsletter / Blog
2011-06-05 Hooded Vulture, Necrosyrtes monachus, Accipitridae. Old World vulture
The Hooded Vulture, Necrosyrtes monachus, is typical vulture, with a bald pink head and a greyish “hood”. It has
fairly uniform dark brown body plumage. It has broad wings for soaring
and short tail feathers. It is a small species compared to most
vultures.
It breeds in a stick nest in trees (often in palms) in much of sub -saharan Africa, laying one egg. These birds form loose colonies and the population is mostly resident.
It is a scavenger, feeding mostly from carcasses of dead animals and waste which it finds by soaring over savannah and around human habitation, including waste tips and abattoirs.
This vulture is typically unafraid of humans, and frequently gathers
around habitation. It is sometimes referred to as the “garbage
collector” by locals. Of all the Old World vultures the Hooded Vulture
has best adapted to live
alongside man. In Nigeria, West Africa its numbers are declining because they are being hunted down for use by traditional healers. |