Hooded vulture: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the hooded vulture lives – recorded in 21 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Necrosyrtes monachus
Group	Birds of prey
Status	Critically endangered (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	21 countries
Continents	Africa
Mass	120 g (birth weight)
Class	Bird
Order	Accipitriformes
Family	Accipitridae

Where does the hooded vulture live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the hooded vulture in 21 countries and territories across Africa. Wikidata gives its range as: Africa, Burkina Faso.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

How big is a hooded vulture?

Wikidata records the following for the hooded vulture: mass 120 g (birth weight).

Is the hooded vulture endangered?

The hooded vulture’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Critically endangered” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the hooded vulture?

The hooded vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus) is a bird in the order Accipitriformes and the family Accipitridae, genus Necrosyrtes. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the hooded vulture

The hooded vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus) is an Old World vulture in the order Accipitriformes, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. It is the only member of the genus Necrosyrtes, which is sister to the larger Gyps genus, both of which are a part of the Aegypiinae subfamily of Old World vultures. It is native to sub-Saharan Africa, where it has a widespread distribution with populations in southern, East and West Africa. It is a scruffy-looking, small vulture with dark brown plumage, a long thin bill, bare crown, face and fore-neck, and a downy nape and hind-neck. Its face is usually a light red colour. It typically scavenges on carcasses of wildlife and domestic animals. Although it remains a common species with a stable population in the lower region of Casamance, some areas of The Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau, other regions such as Dakar, Senegal, show more than 85% losses in population over the last 50 years. Threats include poisoning, hunting, loss of habitat and collisions with electricity infrastructure, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as "critically endangered" in their latest assessment (2022). The highest current regional density of hooded vultures is in the western region of The Gambia.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Hooded vulture (revision 1377182357), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q177386 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).