White-rumped Vulture

The white-rumped vulture is the smallest of the Gyps vultures but still a very large bird, 75 to 93cm long with a wingspan of 1.92 to 2.6m and weighing 3.5 to 7.5kg. It has an unfeathered head and neck, very broad wings, short tail feathers and a white neck ruff. The whitish back, rump and underwing coverts contrast with otherwise dark plumage, and the secondaries are silvery grey (Wikipedia, general species account).

It builds its nest in tall trees, often near human habitations, in northern and central India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Southeast Asia, laying one egg. Birds form roost colonies and feed mostly on carcasses. It is threatened by poisoning from the veterinary drug diclofenac, which causes kidney failure. As of 2021 the global population was estimated at fewer than 6,000 mature birds, after having been several million in the 1980s.