- Gyps indicus
Identification
Length: 80-100 cm (31.5-39 in); weight: 5.5-6.3 kg (12-13.8 lbs); wingspan 205-229 cm (6.75-7.5 ft). A medium-sized vulture.
- Combination of dark-skinned head, neck and crop with golden-buffy body diagnostic
- Head and long bare neck are dark grey-brown and sparsely covered with white down, with a buff ruff at the base
- Eyes brown
- Ceres dull grey-green
- Pale yellowish bill
- Dark grey legs
- Whitish lower belly and undertail-coverts
- Light brown under-wing coverts (see flight shot)
Sexes similar.
Juveniles have a pale downy neck and head and diffuse streaks on pale underparts (much paler than in White-rumped Vulture)
Similar species
Paler, tawnier and more powerfully built than Slender-billed Vulture or White-rumped Vulture.
Smaller and less tawny than Eurasian Griffon or Himalayan Griffon.
Often lacks rufous colouration of Eurasian Griffon.
Distribution
Compare bill colour and colour of back
Photo © by Jugal Tiwari
Kutch, Gujarat, India, 19 August 2010
Formerly common and widespread in the Indian Subcontinent, from southeast Pakistan over much of India. Now very rare and local (see Conservation status). Range poorly documented owing to widespread confusion with Slender-billed Vulture. One record from Afghanistan doubtful.
Resident with some dispersal of young birds.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species.
Slender-billed Vulture was formerly considered conspecific, the species then named Long-billed Vulture.
Habitat
Occurs in semi-desert, forested hills, open areas and around human habitation.
Behaviour
Photo © by Alok Tewari
Jorbeer Conservation Reserve, Bikaner, Rajasthan, India, 22 February 2022
Spends much of the day soaring on thermals, looking for food.
Diet
The diet consists of carrion, usually putrid, but sometimes fresh.
Breeding
Nests colonially on cliff ledges or in ruins. Locally in Rajasthan also in trees.
In Culture
In some parts of their range, it is customary for human corpses to be placed in high places, for Vultures to feed on - this practise is deeply rooted in religious and cultural traditions.
Conservation Status
This species is becoming extremely rare. The rapid decline is thought to be due to the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug Diclofenac, which is used in southern Asia as a livestock treatment. It is extremely toxic to vultures when they feed on the carcasses of treated cattle. The drug causes fatal kidney failure. Populations of White-rumped Vulture and Slender-billed Vulture have also declined by more than 90 percent in the years from 1992 and 2000. On the basis of their catastrophic declines, the IUCN-World Conservation Union has listed these species as critically endangered: the highest level of threat.
The February 2007 issue of the Smithsonian Magazine has an article on the problem and what conservationists are doing about it.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Rasmussen, PC and JC Anderton. 2005. Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334672
- Story in Smithsonian Magazine about the vanishing Indian Vultures (2007)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Indian Vulture. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 21 March 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Indian_Vulture
External Links
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