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Namibian Vulture ID (1 Viewer)

Geckodiva

Geckodiva

Member
Hi everyone,

Hoping that some of our photos are of Cape Griffon vultures but not entirely sure how to dstinguish between Cape and White-backed vultures. I know that White backed are slightly smaller and I read recenty that they have 12 tail feathers where as Cape have 14 (i'm unable to tell the size and the photos don't show the tail feathers in enough detail). Also White-backed have a more defined edge between the dark and light areas its for this latter reaon I think the last pics are White-backed but i'm not sure about the first ones. Photos taken near REST vulture restaurant / Okonjima Africat June 2012.

Debs
 

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By the amount of contrast between the underwing coverts / upperparts and the remiges and tail, Cape Vulture. White-back has little contrast on the underparts as a juvenile and almost white underwing coverts as an adult and white lower back. The birds in the photos seem to lack even the slightest streaking and the ruff appears very pale.

Chris
 
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Hmmmmm!?
Sorry first of all I have no experience with Cape Vulture, main purpose to be on this thread is learning from others. I have seen a lot of White-backed and some old adults can be very creamy light on body and underwing coverts.
There is very few ID literature available on Cape-Vulture, possibly because it is simply much larger and easy to id in the field. The few features I found for adults (last to pictures in this thread) are blue skin on head, yellow eye (impossible to see in the last 2 pictures) silvery secondaries with well visible black subterminal bar and spotted Greater coverts. Both adult birds seem to be within range of old African White-backed, blue skin is not visible in pic 4 and impossible to evaluate in pic 5. Greater coverts are not black spotted except for primary GC and secondaries are far from silvery.
As to the juvenile (pic 1) and immature (2 and 3 same bird?) both seem within range of G. africanus.
Again I have no experience and no good ID papers on Cape Vulture and would like to learn from more experienced ZA birders.
Thanks
 
All birds are White-backed vultures, the 2 adults (pics 4 and 5) for the features mentionned by Tom.

The juv/immatures are more difficult but young Cape griffons typically show darker greater underwing coverts, creating a dark line that contrasts with the rest of the underwing coverts. Also the axilliaries are usually darker. All this mirrors the pattern displayed by adults.

And Cape griffon is now extremely rare in Namibia.
 
Great info.
Wish they were as easy to identify as the Lappet-faced. Those we were trying to identify were seen with Lappet-faced. Also attached a few more pics.
 

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I've been fortunate enough to see both species together at a vulture feeding station in South Africa (at Moholoholo near Hoedspruit). There were about 200 vultures present, most of them white-backed, a fair few hooded, one lappet-faced, and a handful of Cape.

As Tom has suggested it really is necessary to determine whether the animal is adult or immature so that one can apply the correct set of distinguishing features. Once they're on the ground there is indeed a good difference in size as the attached photo shows. But while they're in the air I don't think size is all that helpful.

The nice thing about the feeding station was that the vultures assembled at fairly great height and then began drifting lower at individual rates prior to the actual feeding. Once the vehicle distributing the food had left all one could see for a while was a big dust cloud!

Andrea
 

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