Biology
(
الإنجليزية
)
المقدمة من Arkive
Unlike most of the larger species of vulture, the red-headed vulture does not live in large groups and is most often found solitary or in a breeding pair (5). Courtship in this species is particularly acrobatic, with both the male and the female engaging in soaring and dramatic mutual cartwheeling displays. Once established, a breeding pair will actively exclude other red-headed vultures from their territory. During the breeding season (mainly December to April), each pair builds a nest at the top of a large tree or, in open areas where large trees are absent, on the top of a bush (2). The large, flat nest is constructed from sticks and lined, towards the centre, with leaves and dry grass (5). Usually a single egg is laid, with both parents sharing the incubation duties. After around 45 days the chick hatches (2).
Vultures are notorious for their diet of carrion, and the red-headed vulture is no exception (2). It will feed on the carcasses of a variety of species including large ungulates, birds, turtles and fish (6). The red-headed vulture can often be found amongst the congregations of various vulture species that form around larger carcasses. In the past, it may have been excluded from feeding by larger vulture species of the genus Gyps. However, in recent years the populations of Gyps species have dramatically crashed, hence, this competitive exclusion may now be less common (4) (7). Red-headed vultures will also steal food from other vulture species, particularly the smaller Egyptian vulture Neophron percnopterus (2).
Conservation
(
الإنجليزية
)
المقدمة من Arkive
Although the red-headed vulture occurs in various protected areas throughout its range, these are unable protect it from diclofenac treated livestock. Fortunately, the manufacture of diclofenac has now been banned in India, Nepal and Pakistan, and its use is being phased out and replaced with a similar drug that is not toxic to vultures. However, it may be some years before the use of diclofenac completely comes to an end in these countries. It is, therefore, urgent that captive-breeding programs, similar to those being employed for Gyps species, be developed in order to safeguard this species from total extinction (4).
In Cambodia, efforts are being made to supplement the vulture's dwindling food supply by providing carcasses at designated “vulture restaurants.” In addition, the red-headed vulture population in Cambodia and the use of diclofenac are being continuously monitored, and programs to educate local people about the dangers of using diclofenac are being implemented (6). Laudable efforts such as these must be extended to other countries in the red-headed vulture's range in order to preserve the scarce south-east Asian populations.
Description
(
الإنجليزية
)
المقدمة من Arkive
With its striking, bare, red head and jet-black body, the red-headed vulture is unmistakable among vulture species (4). Despite being a medium-sized vulture, this species still possesses an impressive wingspan of over two metres (2). Both the head and legs are dark red and the neck is flanked by two broad, red folds of skin known as lappets (2) (5). The black-feathered body is characterised by white patches on the flanks above the thighs, bare red patches either side of the crop (5) and tapering wings (2). Males and females are similar (5), except for the eyes, which, in the male are white or yellowish, and dark in the female (2). Juvenile red-headed vultures have dark eyes and more mottled, dark brown plumage (2) (4).
Habitat
(
الإنجليزية
)
المقدمة من Arkive
The red-headed vulture is found in a wide variety of habitats from open countryside and savanna to dry deciduous forest and wooded hills up to 2,000 metres (2) (4). This vulture can also be found near to human settlements, which provide good sources of carrion (4).
Range
(
الإنجليزية
)
المقدمة من Arkive
Formerly widespread throughout the Indian sub-continent and south-east Asia, in recent decades the red-headed vulture has undergone significant declines in both range and population. It has become uncommon in Nepal, and is rare in Pakistan, the north-east of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. It is sparsely distributed throughout most of India and remains fairly common in the west Himalayan foothills; although, it is rare or absent in some areas such as the north-eastern states of India and Gujarat. It formerly occurred in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore but now appears to be absent. In southern China its presence has not been recorded since the 1960s, and it is nearly extinct in Thailand (4).
Status
(
الإنجليزية
)
المقدمة من Arkive
Classified as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List (1) and listed on Appendix II of CITES (3).
Threats
(
الإنجليزية
)
المقدمة من Arkive
Until recently, the red-headed vulture was not considered to be a species of particular conservation concern, despite steadily declining in both population and range, particularly in South-East Asia (1). These reductions were believed to be due to various factors, including the fall in populations of large ungulates as a result of uncontrolled hunting, disease, direct persecution of the birds, and developments in waste disposal meaning that carcasses were more likely to be quickly disposed of in areas of human habitation (4) (6).
However, while these threats are still ongoing, they are unlikely to account for the drastic population decline of over 94 percent that has occurred in India since 1999 (4) (7). The likely cause of this massive loss is the consumption of livestock treated with the veterinary drug diclofenac. The drug, which causes kidney failure in vultures, has received widespread attention in recent years, as it has been shown to be responsible for the huge declines in populations of vultures of the genus gyps that feed on the carcasses of treated livestock (4) (7). Somewhat puzzlingly, the red-headed vulture's population crash does not appear to have occurred until some years after that of the Gyps species. As an explanation, it has been proposed that competitive exclusion from carcasses by the larger Gyps species essentially shielded the red-headed vulture from poisoning, until the Gyps species were no longer abundant, and the red-headed vulture gained much greater access and exposure to contaminated meat (7).
Red-headed vulture
(
الإنجليزية
)
المقدمة من wikipedia EN
The red-headed vulture (Sarcogyps calvus), also known as the Asian king vulture, Indian black vulture or Pondicherry vulture,[2] is an Old World vulture mainly found in the Indian subcontinent, with small disjunct populations in some parts of Southeast Asia.
Description
It is a medium-sized vulture of 76 to 86 cm (30 to 34 in) in length, weighing 3.5–6.3 kg (7.7–13.9 lb) and having a wingspan of about 1.99–2.6 m (6.5–8.5 ft).[3][4] It has a prominent naked head: deep-red to orange in the adult, paler red in the juvenile. It has a black body with pale grey band at the base of the flight feathers. The sexes differ in colour of the iris: males have a paler, whitish iris, whilst in females it is dark brown.[5]
The red-headed vulture is very similar in appearance to its larger relative the Lappet-faced vulture in Africa and Arabia, even being historically placed in the genus Torgos [6]
A female red-headed vulture (left) and a
Lappet-faced vulture (right). Both have similar anatomical features including skull shapes and the dangling skin lappets. They are believed to be closely related
Taxonomy and systematics
This is a species of Old World vulture found in the Indian subcontinent. It has no subspecies.
Distribution and habitat
This gaudy-faced vulture was historically abundant, range widely across the Indian subcontinent, and also eastwards to south-central and south-eastern Asia, extending from India to Singapore. Today the range of the red-headed vulture is localized primarily to northern India. It is usually in open country and in cultivated and semi-desert areas. It is also found in deciduous forests and foothills and river valleys. It is usually found up to an altitude of 3000m from sea level.[7]
Conservation status
The red-headed vulture used to be declining, but only slowly; in 2004 the species was uplisted to near threatened from least concern by the IUCN. The widespread use of the NSAID diclofenac in veterinary medicine in India has caused its population to collapse in recent years, however. Diclofenac is a compound now known to be extremely poisonous to vultures. The red-headed vulture population has essentially halved every other year since the late 1990s, and what once was a plentiful species numbering in the hundreds of thousands has come dangerously close to extinction in less than two decades. Consequently, it was uplisted to critically endangered in the 2007 IUCN Red List.[1]
Several NSAIDs have been found to be harmful to scavenging birds. Diclofenac, carprofen, flunixin, ibuprofen and phenylbutazone were associated with mortality. Meloxicam has thus far been found to be "Vulture-Safe" and its use in veterinary treatment of livestock is being encouraged.[8][9]
The red-headed vulture has started becoming more harder to come by as it is being hunted down. Places like Cambodia have put together special programs to help critically endangered vulture species. There has been evidenced compiled that showed hunters have started “ the use of poisons in hunting practices”,[10] which has led to the population analysis showing “that since 2010 populations of the White-rumped Vulture (Gyps bengalensis) and Red-headed Vulture (Sarcogyps calvus) have declined, while the Slender-billed Vulture (Gyps tenuirostris) may also have started to decline since 2013”.[10]
References
-
^ a b BirdLife International (2021). "Sarcogyps calvus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T22695254A205031246. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
-
^ Ali, S. (1993). The Book of Indian Birds. Bombay: Bombay Natural History Society. ISBN 978-0-19-563731-1.
-
^ WWF- Red-headed Vulture (2011).
-
^ Raptors of the World by Ferguson-Lees, Christie, Franklin, Mead & Burton. Houghton Mifflin (2001), ISBN 0-618-12762-3
-
^ Naoroji, Rishad (2006). Birds of Prey of the Indian subcontinent. pp. 282–287.
-
^ "Vultures=29 September 2022". Researchgate.
-
^ Ferguson-Lees, James; David A. Christie (2001-09-17). Raptors of the world. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 443–444. ISBN 978-0-618-12762-7.
-
^ Cuthbert, Richard; et al. (2007). "NSAIDs and scavenging birds: potential impacts beyond Asia's critically endangered vultures". Biology Letters. The Royal Society. 3 (1): 90–93. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2006.0554. PMC 2373805. PMID 17443974. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
-
^ Milius, Susan (4 February 2006). [tp://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/7025/title/Bird-Safe_Rx_Alternative_drug_wont_kill_Indias_svultures "Bird-Safe Rx: Alternative drug won't kill India's vultures"]. ScienceNews. 169 (#5): 70. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
-
^ a b Loveridge, Robin. “Poisoning Causing the Decline in South-East Asia’s Largest Vulture Population.” , 8 Mar. 2019, https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bird-conservation-international/article/poisoning-causing-the-decline-in-southeast-asias-largest-vulture-population
Red-headed vulture: Brief Summary
(
الإنجليزية
)
المقدمة من wikipedia EN
The red-headed vulture (Sarcogyps calvus), also known as the Asian king vulture, Indian black vulture or Pondicherry vulture, is an Old World vulture mainly found in the Indian subcontinent, with small disjunct populations in some parts of Southeast Asia.
