Africa Wild Bird Book

[Toko]

119. Bearded Vulture Gypaetus barbatus (Baardaasvoël)
Order: Accipitriformes. Family: Accipitridae

Description
95-125 cm long with a 235-280 cm wingspan. Back and wings slaty black. Head, neck and underparts rufous. Head palest with black mask, ending in a 'beard'. Bright red ring around the yellow eye. Bill horn-coloured. Head and legs are loosely feathered. In flight, the long narrow wings and wedge-shaped tail are diagnostic.
Juvenile and immature birds are overall darker and more shaggy looking. The juvenile is dark brown to blackish above, with buffy-black underparts. Eyes and eye-ring are rather reddish-brown. The “beard” is shorter than in adults. The brown plumage is retained till birds are about 6 years old.

Distribution
Occurs in Eurasia, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa from eastern Sudan to northern Tanzania. Once common along the eastern escarpment of the southern Cape mountains, it is now restricted to KZN and the Lesotho Drakensberg.
Gypaetus barbatus meridionalis occurs in southwestern Arabia and east and southern Africa, while G. b. barbatus occupies the rest of its range.
In southern Africa, a drastic decline in the Bearded Vultures’ range and numbers during the past century has resulted in an isolated population that is restricted to the highlands of Lesotho and immediately adjacent areas of the Maloti-Drakensberg mountains. The Free State and south-eastern Cape Province were part of the original breeding range of the species, but now the Bearded Vulture no longer occurs in the south-eastern Cape and only forages in north-eastern Cape province and the Free State.



Habitat
Grassland on rugged mountains and escarpments.

Diet
It feeds exclusively on carrion - specialising on bones. About 70 – 80 percent of what it consumes is bone and bone marrow that it scavenges from carcasses. With highly acidic digestive juices (pH ca 1.0 – 1.5), they are well adapted to processing bone that begins to dissolve the moment it reach their stomach. Meat and skin is also fed on, but this probably only makes up about 20 - 25 percent of what they eat. Smaller bones and bone chips are swallowed immediately, while larger bones are carried into the air and dropped onto a flat favourite rocky area known as an ‘ossuary’ until broken. The bird then spirals down to consume the broken pieces and to get at the bone marrow.

Breeding
Generally a monogamous, territorial solitary nester, although polyandry has been recorded in Europe (meaning that one female can have two mates). The nest is a large, messy platform of twigs and branches, thickly lined with wool, hair and skin. They nest mainly on basalt cliffs in potholes at an average altitude of about 2500 m. Egg-laying season is from May-August, peaking in July. It lays 1-3 eggs, which are incubated for 56-58 days by both sexes in the day, but solely by the female at night. The chicks are guarded constantly by their parents for up to 40 days, after which they are left alone at night but still guarded in the day. Both parents feed the young on a diet of bone fragments, often salivating on them, possibly to provide their strong digestive enzymes to help the young process the food. At about 4 weeks old, the chicks start flying up to 3km to the local ossuary where they start to practice bone-dropping; even at two months old they are still clumsy fliers. The older nestling usually out-competes the younger one, which eventually starves. The remaining chick leaves the nest and becomes fully independent at about 120-130 days old.
Although the breeding success is high, most fledglings die as sub-adults.

Status
Scarce resident. This species is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN List. In South Africa, due to the restricted habitat and its susceptibility to various anthropogenic threats, the Bearded Vulture has been classified as “Endangered” in the Red Data Book.

[Toko]

119. Bearded Vulture Gypaetus barbatus

© Sharifa & Duke

© Sharifa & Duke

© PRWIN
Juvenile

© Sharifa
Juvenile

© Sharifa
Juvenile

© Toko

Links:
Sabap2
Species text Sabap1: http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/119.pdf
BirdInfo: http://www.birdinfo.co.za/rarebirds/46_ ... e_bird.htm
Sasol Birds of Prey of Africa
Animal Diversity Web: http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/a ... _barbatus/
Interview with Sonja Krueger about the Bearded Vulture: http://www.africanraptors.org/interview ... d-vulture/
Global Raptor Information Network: http://www.globalraptors.org/grin/Speci ... pecID=8259
Oiseaux net: http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-bearded-vulture.html
BONE EATERS OF THE 'BERG'. THE BEARDED VULTURE
David Allan. A Photographic Guide to Birds of Prey of Southern, Central and East Africa
BirdLife SA. Find rare birds: http://www.birdingroutes.co.za/specials ... lture.html

[Dewi]

120. Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus (Egiptiese Aasvoël)
Order: Accipitriformes. Family: Accipitridae

Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus.jpg (44.04 KiB) Viewed 1357 times

Description
Length: 60-70 cm. Wingspan: 155-170 cm. Weight: 1.8-2.4 kg. A small vulture with white and black flight feathers. The wings are pointed, with the third primary being the longest; the tail is wedge shaped. The black bill is slender and long and the tip of the upper mandible is hooked. The feathers on the neck are long and the bill is black. The facial skin is yellow and crop is unfeathered. Yellow/orange flecks & streaks in crest. The legs are pink in adults and grey in juveniles.
Juveniles are blackish or chocolate brown with black and white patches, progressing lighter as they age. The adult plumage is attained only after about five years.
Similar species: Adults are distinctive, but can be confused with the Palm-nut Vulture (Palm-nut Vulture has white, not black primaries, its tail is black and straight-endedand, not wedged), also similar to pale phase birds of the Booted Eagle, and immature resembles immature Hooded Vulture.

Distribution
The Egyptian Vulture is widely distributed and may be found in southern Europe, Africa and Asia. Rare vagrant to the sub-region. The Egyptian Vulture occurs in southern Europe, central Asia, the Middle East and India, and is fairly common in the arid parts of Africa north of the equator. Formerly widespread in southern Africa, it is now only a rare vagrant to most parts of the sub-region.
A sub-adult was seen in May 2013 along the S28 between Crocodile Bridge and Lower Sabie in the Kruger National Park. There is only reference to 6 previous records for the Kruger National Park with the last one being back in April 1994.

Subspecies
There are three races.
N. p. ginginianus: Nepal and India (except for northwestern portion);
N. p. majorensis: Canary Islands;
N. p. percnopterus: Southern Europe east to central Asia and northwestern India, south through northern Africa to northern Tanzania, southwestern Angola, and northwestern Namibia; Cape Verde Islands; Socotra.

Habitat
Grassland, savanna and semi-desert regions. It generally prefers open, arid habitats and it roosts and breeds on cliff faces.

Diet
Carrion, from small mammals and insects up to large game, but often only scraps as it competes against the larger Vultures at carcasses. Will take live prey, but mostly already injured mammals and reptiles. It is also a regular predator of the eggs of other birds, including those of the Ostrich, and uses rocks as tools to break open Ostrich eggs.

Breeding
Formerly nested from August to November, possibly to December, coinciding with the start of the spring rains.
Solitary nester, although it sometimes nests in loose colonies or with other vultures. Builds a rough stick nest lined with grass, wool, animal hairs, and other material and placed on a rock ledge, in a cave or hole, dirt bank, or, rarely, in a tree. Clutch size is 1-3 eggs (mostly 2 in Africa), which have a white ground color and a heavy suffusion of reddish-brown pigment. The incubation period is 39-45 days, and both sexes share incubation. The nestling period is 70-90 days.

Call
Soft grunts and hisses.

Status
Very rare vagrant. Classified as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List.

[Dewi]

120. Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus


Coto Doñana NP in Spain


Sub-adult

Links:
Sabap2. http://sabap2.adu.org.za/spp_summary.ph ... &section=3
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds: http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/120.pdf
Global Raptor Information Network
ARKive: http://www.arkive.org/egyptian-vulture/ ... cnopterus/
Oiseaux net: http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/article-eg ... lture.html
Alan Kemp, Meg Kemp. Sasol Birds of Prey of Africa and Its Islands
David Allan. A Photographic Guide to Birds of Prey of Southern, Central and East Africa

[Toko]

130. European Honey Buzzard (formerly known as Honey Buzzard) Pernis apivorus (Wespedief)
Order: Accipitriformes. Family: Accipitridae

European Honey Buzzard.jpg (89.74 KiB) Viewed 1371 times

Description
52-60 cm. Very variable species plumage-wise. The 'typical' European Honey-buzzard is grey-brown on the upperparts, with a grey crown and face, and a whitish throat with dark streaks. The underbody is most often white or cream, or occasionally pale rufous (reddish) in colour, and usually has defined bars in cinnamon, rufous, brown or black. Some individuals may be less heavily barred, and instead have splotches, or spots, in black, brown, or rufous. The tail of the European Honey-buzzard is usually greyish or pale brown, with a creamy-white tip and contrasting dark bands (two narrow dark bars and a broad dark sub-terminal bar). The flight feathers tend to be darker above, with a pale tip and a broad black bar, whilst the undersides are most often whitish, with dark tips.
The female European Honey-buzzard is generally larger, darker and browner than the male, with less defined barring and often appearing more mottled. Juvenile in flight shows more tail bands and more even bands on the flight feathers in the wing, and lack the strong dark terminal band on both tail and wings.
Similar species: Similar to the Steppe Buzzard in flight, the European Honey-Buzzard can be distinguished by the two broad bars (sometimes indistinct) near the base of the tail.

Distribution
This Palearctic migrant breeds from Scandinavia and western Siberia to the Mediterranean, heading south in the non-breeding season to sub-Saharan Africa, from Guinea-Bissau to eastern Sudan and Ethiopia south to southern Africa. Here it is uncommon in patches of Zimbabwe, southern and central Mozambique, eastern Botswana, the Caprivi Strip (Namibia), north-central Namibia and north-eastern South Africa.
In southern Africa it occurs sparsely in the woodlands of the northeast, with scattered records from the moister woodlands in northern
and eastern Botswana, and Namibia. It has regularly been seen in the southwestern Cape Province in the Tokai and Stellenbosch areas near Cape Town.

Habitat
It can occur in an well-wooded habitat, such as forest, woodland, plantations and gardens.

Movements and migrations
The adults leave the breeding grounds in August, followed by the juveniles in September, arriving in southern Africa in late November and departing from April-May.

Diet
It mainly eats insects, especially wasps and bees. It has a fairly specialised diet, feeding on the nests, larvae, pupae and adults of social insects, such as wasps, bees and hornets. When hunting, the European honey-buzzard will perch or fly, watching for foraging insects. Once it has located a suitable prey item, it will follow the insect back to its nest, which it will break apart with its powerful feet, feeding on the contents as it digs. When the main prey items are scarce, the European honey-buzzard is capable of feeding on other insect species, amphibians, small reptiles and mammals, the nestlings and eggs of other birds, and also fruits and berries.
Limited observations suggest that in southern Africa it may aggregate at localities where paper wasps Belanogaster spp. are particularly abundant.

Breeding
Breeding occurs during the summer months, from mid-June onwards, and is timed to correspond with peaks in abundance of bees and wasps. The nest is built in a tree, 10-30 m off the ground, and is constructed of twigs and many green, leafy branches and other live plant materials, and lined with leaves. The nest of the European Honey-buzzard, which is normally newly built by the female each year, may sometimes use the foundations of an old squirrel, crow, or buzzard nest. Following a courtship where the male European Honey-buzzard will perform an undulating ‘sky-dance’, swooping, gliding, and quivering in the air, the pair will mate, and the female will produce a clutch of between one and three eggs, although most often two eggs are laid. The male and female take turns to incubate the eggs for 30 to 35 days, and, after hatching, the chicks are fed by both of the adult birds, before fledging at 40 to 44 days, and becoming independent at 75 to 100 days.

Call
Generally silent in southern Africa.

Status
The European Honey-buzzard is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List and listed on Appendix II of CITES. An annual but rare summer visitor to the north-east of South Africa.

[Toko]

130. European Honey Buzzard (formerly known as Honey Buzzard) Pernis apivorus

© Toko

© nan

© BluTuna
Kruger National Park

© steamtrainfan
Rietvlei Nature Reserve, Gauteng

Links:
http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/130.pdf
http://sabap2.adu.org.za/spp_summary.ph ... &section=3
http://www.globalraptors.org/grin/Speci ... pecID=8309
Oiseaux net

[Dewi]

128. African Cuckoo-hawk Aviceda cuculoides (Koekoekvalk)
Order: Accipitriformes. Family: Accipitridae

African Cuckoo-hawk Aviceda cuculoides.jpg (45.22 KiB) Viewed 1367 times

Description
40 cm. Grey, crested head. Grey bib. Broad rufous bars on white belly with dark upperwings. Broadly barred tail. Black bill, yellow legs. Males have red eyes.
Females have yellow eyes and light buff streaking on thrat and broader paler barring below.
The juvenile has white underparts with heart-shaped spots and is crested like the adult.
Similar species: At rest resembles male African Goshawk but differs by having a crest, a grey throat and upper breast which end abruptly in a bib. In flight, it has long wings (not short and rounded as in African Goshawk) with the underwing coverts barred rufous and white.

Distribution
Occurs across much of sub-Saharan Africa; in southern Africa it is generally scarce in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, northern Botswana, Namibia (including the Caprivi Strip) and eastern South Africa, with an isolated population in the east of the Western Cape.



Habitat
Forest edges of mature and riparian woodlands, the understorey and edges of forest and plantations of alien trees.

Diet
Mostly grasshoppers and other large insects; sometimes lizards; also likes chameleons and small snakes. It hunts by flying from tree to tree, searching for from its perch before flying to pluck the prey item from the canopy or ground.

Breeding
Monogamous, solitary nester, performing spectacular aerial displays in the run-up to the breeding season. Nesting takes place from September to February, egg-laying season peaks from October-December. The nest is built by both sexes in about 11 days, consisting of an untidy platform of twigs, vines and leaves and lined with leaves, grass and small bits of sticks. It is typically placed in the highest branches of a tree, roughly 10-30 metres above ground. The clutch is of 2 (rarely 3) chalky-white eggs with reddish-brown blotches. Incubation is by both sexes or female only and lasts for 32–33 days. The nestlings are nest-bound for about a month and are fed by both parents.

Call
Mostly 4-note tickey-to you call; also plaintive pleou. Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Uncommon resident.

[Dewi]

128. African Cuckoo-hawk Aviceda cuculoides

© Dewi

© Toko
Tembe Elephant Park

© Duke
Kruger National Park

© Richprins
Kruger National Park

Links:
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
Sabap2
Global Raptor Information Network
Warwick Tarboton Bird Images

[Lisbeth]

121. Hooded Vulture Necrosyrtes monachus (Monnikaasvoël)
ORDER ACCIPITRIFORMES. Family Accipitridae

Hooded Vulture Necrosyrtes monachus.jpg (34.65 KiB) Viewed 1354 times

Description
It is a small species compared to most vultures. A typical vulture, with a bald pink head and neck with a greyish 'hood'. It has fairly uniform dark brown body plumage. White is often visible on upper breast and thighs. It has broad wings for soaring and short tail feathers.
Juvenile similar but darker, with blackish brown head.

Distribution
Across much of sub-Saharan Africa, excluding the lowland forest of the DRC and adjacent countries. In southern Africa it is locally common in the Caprivi Strip (Namibia), northern Botswana, north-western and southern Zimbabwe, north-eastern South Africa and central Mozambique.



Habitat
Savanna; found mostly in gamereserves in the north. It generally prefers moist savanna, especially well-developed Mopane (Colosphermum mopane) woodland with scattered trees, such as Jackal-berry (Diosypros mespiliformis) and Nyala-tree (Xanthocercis zambesiaca).

Movements and migrations
Resident and sedentary.

Diet
It is spends most of it's time scavenging, soaring high in the air until it spots a carcass, at which point it descends to the ground to feed. Once on the scene, it feeds on meat, eyes, offal and bones; if it is an old carcass it may take maggots and insects from the body. Its thin bill enables it to get into the finer bone crevices for morsels overlooked by the other vultures. It also eats the dung of lions and humans, sometimes hawking termite alates and taking Tawny eagle and Red-billed quelea nestlings from their nests.

Breeding
Monogamous, usually solitary nester, although it is sometimes semi-colonial; pairs probably stay together for life. The nest is built by both sexes, consisting of a compact structure of sticks with a cup set into the centre, lined with dry grass and green leaves. It is typically placed in a fork near the top of a large well-foliaged tree, especially Jackal-berry (Diospyros mespiliformis) or Nyala-tree (Xanthocercis zambesiaca), often near a river or stream. Egg-laying season is from June-September, peaking from June-July. It almost invariably lays a single egg, which is incubated by both sexes for about 48-54 days. The chick is constantly brooded by both parents for the first three weeks or so of its life, and is fed by both parents. It leaves the nest at about 90-130 days old, becoming fully independent roughly four months later.

Status
Uncommon resident. This species is classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

[Lisbeth]

121. Hooded Vulture Necrosyrtes monachus (Monnikaasvoël)

Lisbeth

© BluTuna

© JustN@ture

© JustN@ture
Kruger National Park

© Dewi

© Flutterby
Juvenile

© Flutterby

Links:
Sabap1 Species Text
Sabap2
Global Raptor Information Network
Oiseaux net