Cape griffon vulture
| Cape vulture | |
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| At the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve, Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng, South Africa | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Accipitriformes |
| Family: | Accipitridae |
| Genus: | Gyps |
| Species: | G. coprotheres |
| Binomial name | |
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Gyps coprotheres (Forster, 1798) |
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| Synonyms | |
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The Cape griffon or Cape vulture (Gyps coprotheres), also known as Kolbe's vulture, is an Old World vulture in the family Accipitridae. It is endemic to southern Africa, and is found mainly in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana and in some parts of northern Namibia. It nests on cliffs and lays one egg per year. Since 2015, it has been classified as Endangered.
This large vulture is of a creamy-buff colour, with contrasting dark flight- and tail-feathers. The adult is paler than the juvenile, and its underwing coverts can appear almost white at a distance. The head and neck are near-naked. The eyes are yellowish and the bill is black bill. Juveniles and immatures are generally darker and more streaked, with brown to orange eyes and red neck.
The average length of adult birds is about 96–115 cm (38–45 in) with a wingspan of 2.26–2.6 m (7.4–8.5 ft) and a body weight of 7–11 kg (15–24 lb). The two prominent bare skin patches at the base of the neck, also found in the white-backed vulture, are thought to be temperature sensors and used for detecting the presence of thermals. The species is among the largest raptors in Africa, next to the lappet-faced vulture. After the Himalayan griffon vulture and the cinereous vulture, the Cape vulture is the third largest Old World vulture.
The Cape vulture occurs in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Formerly it could also be found in Namibia and Swaziland. Vagrants are occasionally recorded from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia.
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