Mystery Bird: Hooded Vulture, Necrosyrtes monachus

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[Mystery bird] Hooded Vulture, Necrosyrtes monachus (background: Marabou Stork, Leptoptilos crumeniferus), photographed at the Ndutu Safari Lodge, near Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]

Image: Dan Logen, 21 January 2010 [larger view].

Nikon D300, 600 mm lens with 1.4 extender ISO 800, f/5.6 1/400.

Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.

Since this African mystery bird is easy to identify, I'll ask you to identify the bird standing in the background, too!

From a distance, the Hooded Vulture, Necrosyrtes monachus, may be mistaken for the similarly-colored Lappet-faced Vulture, Torgos tracheliotus, but Hooded Vultures are only half the size. Their scientific name, Necrosyrtes monachus, literally means " a monk-like (bird) that drags away the dead."

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The one in the background is hungry. The one in the foreground is lunch.

In a more serious vein, I'd like to ask Mr. Logen if his subject is staying at the Lodge.

The vulture's head shape with its pink face and woolly "bathing cap" are diagnostic of the species whose name suggests a trendy sweatshirt. The stork's proximity to the foreground subject, in addition to its colorless legs lead me to think it's the species whose name could cause it to be mistaken for a female New World reindeer.

I HAVE A RARE BIRD IT IS A CROSS BETWEEN A BOURBON RED TOM TURKEY AND A GUINEA HEN .IKNOW EVERY SAYS THEY CANT CROSS BUT I DONT CARE MINE DID!!

By SHAWN/KATHY (not verified) on 08 Jul 2010 #permalink