Dave Taylor's African Safari: Scavengers and Decomposers - Hooded Vulture

Scavengers and Decomposers
Hooded Vulture
Page 3

Necrosytres monachus

Length: 70 cm (28")

Status: common, though not abundant (In South Africa, this species is listed as scarce or rare.)

Habitat: Hooded vultures are found up to an altitude of 3 000 meters (9,840 feet) in wooded and open country.

Food: Hooded vultures are scavengers and will eat leftover scraps found on the ground. They are usually the last to feed on a kill. Hooded vultures are "clean feeders". They do not place their heads in the body cavity in order to get food and therefore do not get covered with blood and gore. They have a well feathered neck. They will also extract dung beetle larvae from dung.

Social System/Behavior: Hooded vultures are the smallest of the vultures and are easily chased off by larger species.

They make a small, cupped-shaped nest, high up in an acacia tree. They have one young per year (see also Feeding Order). They may nest either in pairs or in semi-colonies. This latter trait is seen in West Africa.

Pairs remain together all year and return to the same nest to breed, lay eggs and raise their young. Both sexes incubate the egg which hatches in 51 days. It will be three to four months before the chick fledges. It will remain with its parents for six months.

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