African Birds: Vulture

Vultures can be found all across Africa, though in declining numbers that have made them an endangered species. However, they are found in literately every kind of habitat available in Africa. These include wooded areas, arid and semi-arid deserts as well as mountainous areas. They are found in every single African country on the continent. Vultures are a carrion bird, meaning they will scavenge over the carcasses of dead mammals who have died of disease or old age or the remaining meat of an animal a predator such as a lion has killed. They are adept at soaring on the up drafts and have strong eyesight allowing them to see tremendous distances which helps them see any carrion before most other rival scavengers find them. They can even eat spoiled and rotten meat without any problem due to the low PH content of their stomach. They have a distinctive appearance, with their naked crown, face and neck with scraggly feathers and are a very impressive 100cm tall on average whilst weighing from 4-11kg. Sadly, humans are their only predator, and this has created a problem in ecosystems, as vultures eat up to 70% of Africa’s entire carrion. This has a knock-on effect causing rivers or watering holes to be poisoned by rotting carcasses that would have otherwise been picked clean by the vulture.