Kites, Old World Vultures, Eagles, and Hawks
White-backed Vulture
Gyps africanus
CRCritically Endangered
- Family
- Kites, Old World Vultures, Eagles, and Hawks (Accipitridae)
- Order
- Accipitriformes
Overview
The white-backed vulture (Gyps africanus) is an Old World vulture in the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. It is the most common vulture species in the continent of Africa.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Open plains and savanna of sub-Saharan Africa.
Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.
Countries
- Angola
- Benin
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Djibouti
- DR Congo
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Kenya
- Malawi
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Rwanda
- Senegal
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Spain
- Sudan
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Uganda
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: White-backed vulture
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.
