Red-headed vulture

(Sarcogyps calvus)

Description

The red-headed vulture (Sarcogyps calvus),also known as the Asian king vulture,Indian black vulture or Pondicherry vulture,is an Old World vulture mainly found in the Indian subcontinent,with small disjunct populations in some parts of Southeast Asia.It is a medium-sized vulture of 76 to 86 cm (30 to 34 in) in length,weighing 3.5–6.3 kg (7.7–13.9 lb) and having a wingspan of about 1.99–2.6 m (6.5–8.5 ft).It has a prominent naked head: deep-red to orange in the adult,paler red in the juvenile.It has a black body with pale grey band at the base of the flight feathers.The sexes differ in colour of the iris: males have a paler,whitish iris,whilst in females it is dark brown.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:
Class: Aves
Order:Accipitriformes
Family:Accipitridae
Genus:Sarcogyps
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