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PLATE 19: VULTURES
Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus RB, WV
L: 62. W: 155. A small vulture. Adult has white, wedge-shaped tail, white underparts with black
flight feathers (secondaries greyish-white above), small pointed head and thin bill; colour pattern
of plumage resembles pale morph Booted Eagle or White Stork below but shape quite different.
Juvenile is mid-brown below with blackish ruff; dark brown above with creamy bars on wing-
coverts, pale rump and whitish uppertail-coverts; wedge-shaped tail grey-brown, tipped paler.
Soars on flat to slightly arched wings; active flight has many deep wingbeats between glides. Often
in flocks. Habitat Mountains, isolated peaks, wadis and open country; frequents village refuse
dumps; sometimes on the foreshore; nests on cliffs. Note Partial migrant in S Iran; passage hatched;
vagrant Qatar.Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus wv, pm
L: 95–105. W: 245–270. Large; heavy with long, broad, deeply fingered wings with curved trailing
edge; short, broad, square-cut tail and slightly protruding narrow head. Soars effortlessly for long
periods on raised wings; active flight with very slow, deep wingbeats; glides on kinked wings.
Adult gingery-buff above and below contrasting with dark flight feathers. Juvenile even paler
brownish-yellow on rear underwing-coverts, thus greater contrast with flight feathers. Gregarious.
Habitat Mountains; occurs over all types of country in search for food; nests colonially in caves
or on cliff ledges. Note Passage, winter and dispersal areas hatched, but rare in much of Arabia.
[Alt: Eurasian Griffon Vulture]Cinereous Vulture Aegypius monachus V
L: 105. W: 255–295. Very large. Readily told from Griffon Vulture by all-blackish plumage without
any contrast and parallel-edged wings held flat, or slightly downcurved, particularly when gliding;
tail also slightly longer and less square-cut than in Griffon. Young birds blacker than adults, but in
both pale legs stand out against black undertail-coverts. At close range adult has black and whitish
head pattern; head blackish-brown in juveniles. Plumage blacker throughout than rather similar
Lappet-faced Vulture. Told from dark eagles by larger size, longer and more deeply fingered wings,
and less protruding head. The occasional wingbeat is slow and deep (like Lappet-faced). Habitat
Desolate mountains (often extensively wooded), foothills, plains and semi-deserts; nests in trees,
sometimes on cliffs. Note Winter dispersal hatched; vagrant Oman. [Alt: Eurasian Black Vulture]Lappet-faced Vulture Torgos tracheliotos RB
L: 105. W: 255–290. Very large, heavy vulture, paler than Cinereous Vulture but darker than
Griffon. Long, deeply fingered wings and short tail with distinctly pointed feather tips; wings less
parallel-edged than in Cinereous but less curved than in Griffon. From above, dull grey-brown
wing-coverts contrast much less with flight feathers than in Griffon (but bleach paler; in Cinereous
virtually no contrast). From below, dark wing-coverts have variable whitish ‘vulture streak’ near
leading edge and flight feathers and their coverts are clearly paler greyish, but wing-tip blackish
(in Cinereous, black underwing-coverts contrast with paler flight feathers, and wing-tip not clearly
darker). Dark brown underparts have whitish-brown mottling on breast, creamy upper flanks,
browner upper thighs but paler lower thighs and ventral region, giving underparts a variegated
appearance. Immature birds are more uniform with less developed ‘vulture streak’ and less
variegated underparts, but usually have some pale on vent. When perched, adult identified by very
heavy bill, feathered hindneck, ugly unfeathered pinkish head and foreneck, and long, lanceolated
breast feathers; lappets often inconspicuous. Solitary or in pairs, but small parties sometimes
at carcasses. Habitat Savanna, semi-desert steppe, desert with scattered trees, foothills, rocky
wadis; huge nest built on top of an acacia. Note Some winter dispersal; vagrant Kuwait.