Hooded Vulture

Description:

A large, entirely brown, bird (of prey), but small vulture - about 70 cm in length, with a large soaring wings and a slender pale bill. The nape and neck are covered by down - a special kind of fluffy feathery material forming a "hood". The face, crown and throat are naked and pinkish in adult birds, and flush red when the bird is excited or agitated.

Habitat:

The hooded vulture is an Old World vulture, found mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. I observed them everywhere in Ethiopia; here in this spotting on shores of lake Awassa, and in and around the town of the same name. Lake Awassa (or Hawassa) is a part of main Ethiopian Rift Valley series of lakes, situated at some 1700 m of altitude. Like most of Rift lakes in Ethiopian highlands, this is an endorreic lake (landlocked mass of water having no outlet and not connected to the sea), and as such surrounded by marshes that regulate its levels through evaporation. Because of marshes and its forested shores, the lake is known as birdwatcher's paradise - very rich with various waders. Unfortunately, many of these marshes, or at least those of an easy access to visitors are very polluted by plastic garbage - mainly plastic bottles and bags...

Notes:

The population of these vultures is often described as "common", in areas they inhabit. Nevertheless, according to the IUCN list, this species has recently became critically endangered, with rapidly decreasing population due to hunting, poisoning and loss of habitat... It may be noted also that in many parts of Africa, vultures in general are considered as bad omen and/or linked to witchcraft. As such, they are often a target of poisoning or hunting.