White-Backed Vulture

The vultures of Kidepo Valley NP in Uganda were one of the things that endeared it to me. Next-in-line is the white-backed vulture which I did a prior post for on August 4, 2014 after our trip to Kenya and Tanzania. 

The event that brought vultures to the forefront was our National Geographic moment: a scrum (my word) or wake (a real word) of vultures feeding on a Ugandan kob (although we did not know what was underneath the feathers when we first arrived). It was so intense that all we could see was a living circular wheel of heaving, squawking feathers, with some vultures circling overhead and a few stepped back from the fray watching. 

We had no idea what was underneath that mass of pulsating feathers. Fortunately, it was near the road so we got a great view. At one point something scared the vultures off for a minute or two and we got a view of the kob. 

But before long, the vultures engulfed it again and the wake ensued. The white-backed vultures appeared to be in the majority, heads down, going at the carcass. The Ruppell's griffon vultures were the agitators, on top of the pile, leaping into the middle, biting those below it and squawking. They got the attention. 

Illustration of the white-backed vulture from Birds of the World.

It has only white down feathers on the head and neck and a white neck ruff. It has a white lower back and underwing coverts. It has dark brown plumage and black skin on the head and neck. The bill is black, compared to the white bill of the Ruppell's griffon vulture which is the easiest way to tell them apart. Juveniles are darker with contour feathers streaked with lighter brown. 

A darker juvenile in flight. 

An adult coming in for a landing.

Another coming in for a landing, revealing its white back. 

A Ruppell's griffon on the left and the rest are white-backed. 

Other sightings of the white-backed away from the kob carcass.

Another entertaining episode was when a young warthog was following a white-backed and causing it discomfort, forcing it to move several times before it flew away. 

While preparing my next post on the Ruppell's griffon vulture I found I had two good photos of white-backed vultures included. So I've moved them into the right place in my photo storage and insert them below. Both were on the termite mound near the kob wake, the same mound that the lappet-faced vulture stood on in my post a few days ago.