Palm-nut vulture
The palm-nut vulture (Gypohierax angolensis) or vulturine fish eagle, is a large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae (which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, buzzards and harriers, vultures, and eagles). It is the only member of the genus Gypohierax.
This bird is an Old World vulture (only distantly related to the New World vultures, which are in a separate family, the Cathartidae).
It breeds in forest and savannah across sub-Saharan Africa, usually near water, its range coinciding with that of the oil and Raffia palms. It is quite approachable, like many African vultures, and can be seen near habitation, even on large hotel lawns in the tourist areas of countries such as the Gambia.
The palm-nut vulture was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the eagles, hawks and falcons in the genus Falco and coined the binomial name Falco angolensis.[2] Gmelin based his description on the "Angola vulture" that had been described in 1781 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his multi-volume work A General Synopsis of Birds. The Leverian Collection in London included two specimens that had been collected in Angola.[3] The palm-nut vulture is now placed in the genus Gypohierax that was introduced for the species in 1836 by the German naturalist Eduard Rüppell.[4][5] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek gups meaning "vulture" with hierax meaning "hawk".[6] The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.[5]
This is a nearly unmistakable bird as an adult. At 1.3–1.7 kg (2.9–3.7 lb) in weight, 60 cm (2.0 ft) in length and with a wingspan of 1.50 m (4.9 ft), this is the smallest Old World vulture.[7][8] Its plumage is all white except for black areas in its wings and tail. It has a red patch around each eye. The juvenile, which takes 3–4 years to mature, is brown with yellow eye-patches. In flight, this species resembles an eagle more than a typical vulture, and it can sustain flapping flight, so it does not depend on thermals. With its extensive white plumage, and black wing- and tail-feathers, the adult palm-nut vulture can be crudely mistaken for both the African fish-eagle and the Egyptian vulture, but clearly lacks the chestnut body of the former and the white tail of the latter[9][failed verification]
The sexes are identical in appearance, with the female being the same size as the male. Juveniles on the other hand are predominately brown with partially black wings and take a lengthy three to four years to make the transition into the adult plumage[10]
