Willem is a wildlife artist based in South Africa. He says "My aim is simply to express the beauty and wonder that is in Nature, and to heighten people's appreciation of plants, animals and the wilderness. Not everything I paint is African! Though I've never been there, I'm also fascinated by Asia and I've done paintings of Asian rhinos and birds as well. I may in future do some of European, Australian and American species too. I'm fascinated by wild things from all over the world! I mainly paint in watercolours. . . but actually many media including 'digital' paintings with the computer!"

Here's our next vulture in the series. This is the White-headed Vulture, Trigonoceps occipitalis. The scientific name means 'occipital triangle-head' and refers to the angular appearance of the head of this vulture as result of the feathers standing up at the back of its head. It is the only remaining species in its genus; in the past the genus ranged as far as the Indonesian island of Flores. This is one of the most handsome vultures with the white and black of its plumage and the pastel red and powder blue of its face and beak. It has a dense ruff of feathers on its neck, reminiscent of Elizabethan collars. It is mostly black on its wings and back; it has a white crop region, belly and shaggy 'pants' on its legs. This pattern of contrasting white and black make it easy to identify when seen in flight from below. It is unusual among vultures for being sexually dimorphic: females are larger than males, and have a large panel of white on the wings formed by the white inner flight feathers.

Vultures in Grave Danger

The last time I've seen one of these vultures was over thirty years ago, in the Kruger National Park. Rare then, it has become even rarer since, and is currently considered a critically endangered species, meaning that without drastic help it is in imminent danger of extinction. Even though this vulture has a range extending to most of sub-Saharan Africa, the population is extremely sparse and it is estimated that perhaps only about 5 500 of them remain in existence. About a fifth of these are in Southern Africa, mainly Botswana. They occur in hot, dry, savannah and open woodland country, with large trees for nesting. They tend to disappear from landscapes modified by humans. In South Africa itself, they only occur in any numbers in the Kruger National Park and in northern Kwazulu-Natal.

This is quite an unobtrusive vulture. It is keen-eyed and alert, flying low and fast, and often the first vulture species that spots carrion on the ground. It is a neat feeder; unlike other vultures that will thrust their long necks deep into a carcass to pull out the innards, it will feed just from the outside, pulling off a chunk of meat with its strong bill, and then taking it a few steps off to tear it into smaller strips to swallow. That way, its finely plumaged head doesn't become caked with blood and even worse stuff as it feeds. It may dominate smaller vultures, or even immatures of the larger Lappet-faced Vulture. It may snatch away large pieces of meat from them that they have difficulty swallowing. Once too many other vultures turn up, it will stop feeding. It is a loner that doesn't like throngs.

In fact, this vulture is not just a scavenger. It has been seen killing live prey, mostly small mammals like mongooses, squirrels and hares, ground-living birds or large reptiles like monitor lizards and snakes. It has eyes set more forward than those of other vultures, giving it better binocular vision. It has powerful, eagle-like talons with which to grasp prey. It will sometimes scare off other birds like crows, kites, tawny eagles or bateleurs from roadkill or from their own kills. It has also been seen stealing fish from Marabou Storks, and catching fish and frogs in muddy, drying pools. It even catches flying termites and locusts; these can occur in vast swarms, not at all insignificant sources of food.

Apart from at carcasses, white-headed vultures may also be seen at waterholes. They drink regularly and also bathe to keep their feather outfits snazzy.

White-headed vultures nest in large trees, preferring thorn and baobab trees. They will choose a site from which they have a good view of the surroundings. They will sometimes have more than one nest per territory. The nest is made of sticks lines with grass and dung! It soon gains an additional furry lining from pellets of hair regurgitated by the chick. Male and female likely form long-term pairs. The mating itself is quick and quiet. The female typically lays a single egg. Both parents incubate the egg. Once the chick is hatched, they bring food to it in their crops which they regurgitate directly to its mouth. Too much human activity can make them abandon their nests and chicks. The chick, after fledging, stays with its parents for a few more months.

The reason why this vulture is so endangered is that first of all it is a vulture, and all vulture species are heavily impacted by human activity. The large herds of grazing mammals that occurred all over Africa in the past are now confined to a few game reserves. They lose more and more habitat, as Africa keeps getting more developed, towns and farms taking the place of woodlands and savannahs. Farmers set out poisoned carcasses to kill predators like jackals and leopards, and these get eaten by vultures. Sometimes vultures are deliberately poisoned, primarily by poachers of elephants and rhinos – since circling vultures may lead anti-poaching units to them. Vultures are sometimes eaten as food, and are also considered sources of medicine – the belief is that vulture brains can confer clairvoyance!

This species has also always been among the scarcer of the vultures, a bit of an outsider, out on the margins rather than in the midst of the action. It seems to be the first to suffer in times of adversity. Along with other vultures it is in dire need of new, large-scale conservation policies. Africa as a whole needs to seriously think about how humans and wildlife can harmoniously co-exist, or we stand to lose the priceless treasure of biodiversity that we have.

Colours of Wildlife Archive

Willem

21.10.19 Front Page

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