Beautifully ugly….

White-backed Vulture Gyps africanus

This is a vulture in the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. It is closely related to the European Griffon.The White-backed Vulture is a typical vulture, with only down feathers on the head and neck, very broad wings and short tail feathers. It has a white neck ruff. The adult’s whitish back contrasts with the otherwise dark plumage. Juveniles are largely dark.Like other vultures it is a scavenger, feeding mostly from carcasses of animals which it finds by soaring over savannah.

This image was captured on the Chobe River, near Kasane, northern Botswana, Southern Africa.

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