Kites, Old World Vultures, Eagles, and Hawks
White-headed Vulture
Trigonoceps occipitalis
CRCritically Endangered
- Family
- Kites, Old World Vultures, Eagles, and Hawks (Accipitridae)
- Order
- Accipitriformes
Overview
The white-headed vulture (Trigonoceps occipitalis) is an Old World vulture endemic to Africa. Populations have been declining steeply in recent years due to habitat degradation and poisoning of vultures at carcasses. An extinct relative was also present in the Indonesian island of Flores during the Late Pleistocene, indicating that the genus was more widespread in the past.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Thornscrub and desert of sub-Saharan Africa.
Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.
Continents
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
- Sudan
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Uganda
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: White-headed 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.
