Species profile

Name: the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) is a small, intelligent species of vulture that is known for using tools.

Appearance: they are distinctive-looking vultures, with black and white feathers, and bright yellow faces. In flight, they can be recognised by their wedge-shaped tails and black and white colours.

Size: they measure up to 65 cm long and weigh up to 2.4 kg, making them one of the smallest vulture species.

Diet: Egyptian vultures feed mainly on carrion but are opportunistic and will prey on small mammals, birds, reptiles, and eggs.

Did you know: unusually amongst bird species, Egyptian vultures are known to use tools. In order to help them access large birds’ eggs (such as ostrich or bustard), they pick up stones and drop them on the eggs to crack them open. This skill is a learned behaviour from watching other birds. As well as stones they have also been observed using twigs to gather and roll up strings of wool to line their nests!

Location: they are found on dry plains and lower hills across southern Europe and northern Africa, and western and southern Asia.

Where to see Egyptian vultures

According to reports submitted to WildSide, you can see Egyptian vultures in the following places:

Photo credit: fda54 under a Creative Commons licence from Pixabay