Palm-nut Vulture
Gypohierax angolensis
CLASS: Aves
ORDER: Falconiformes
FAMILY: Accipitridae
SIZE:
2 ft. head to tail; 5 ft. wingspan; weighs 3 to 3 1/2 pounds.
RANGE:
Central Africa to southeastern Africa.
HABITAT:
Forest edges along rivers, lakes, estuaries, and the coast where oil palms occur.
DIET:
Wild - Mostly fleshy part of palm fruits, occasionally other fruits and grains, fish, carrion, and crabs.
Zoo - Fish, avocado pulp, boiled sweet potato.
DESCRIPTION:
Largely white with a black back, tips of wings, and base of tail. Wings are short and rounded. Bare red skin on face around the eye to the beak.
FACTS:
One of the very few raptors whose main diet consists of fruits.
They are somewhat similar in appearance to the American Bald Eagle.
Breed from May to Dec, depending on where found; lay a single egg.
YOUNG:
Hatch in 44 days, coated with brownish down. Fledge in 90 days. Juveniles are brown with yellowish facial skin.
STATUS:
CITES II, not globally threatened.
REFERENCE:
Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 2. New World Vultures to Guineafowl. Ed. by Josep del Hoyo, Andrew Elliott and Jordi Sargatal.
|
