Lappet Faced Vulture
"Lappet Faced Vulture", also known as the Nubian Vulture, is perched in its tree nest. It is the largest vulture in Africa, featuring a massive wingspan of up to 9 feet. They are known to be aggressive, and act as the dominant "bosses" at a feeding site, often pushing away smaller vultures and even driving off jackals and hyenas. Their massive, powerful beaks can tear through tough skin, tendons, and ligaments that smaller scavengers cannot break. They can strip a small antelope to the bone in just 20 minutes. While they mostly feed on dead animals (carrion), they also actively hunt small mammals, lizards, fish, and birds, and even raid flamingo colonies to eat eggs, nestlings, and adults. Their featherless heads and fleshy skin folds (lappets) keep blood and sticky fluids from matting their feathers while feeding. The hot sun then bakes off remaining bacteria. Contrary to popular belief, they do not smell rotting meat. They find food using sharp eyesight and by watching the descending or circling flight of other scavenger birds. I sighted a few in Maasai Mara, all in their nests. Wikipedia, Seaworld.org, BioDB
Lappet Faced Vulture
"Lappet Faced Vulture", also known as the Nubian Vulture, is perched in its tree nest. It is the largest vulture in Africa, featuring a massive wingspan of up to 9 feet. They are known to be aggressive, and act as the dominant "bosses" at a feeding site, often pushing away smaller vultures and even driving off jackals and hyenas. Their massive, powerful beaks can tear through tough skin, tendons, and ligaments that smaller scavengers cannot break. They can strip a small antelope to the bone in just 20 minutes. While they mostly feed on dead animals (carrion), they also actively hunt small mammals, lizards, fish, and birds, and even raid flamingo colonies to eat eggs, nestlings, and adults. Their featherless heads and fleshy skin folds (lappets) keep blood and sticky fluids from matting their feathers while feeding. The hot sun then bakes off remaining bacteria. Contrary to popular belief, they do not smell rotting meat. They find food using sharp eyesight and by watching the descending or circling flight of other scavenger birds. I sighted a few in Maasai Mara, all in their nests. Wikipedia, Seaworld.org, BioDB