THE whitebacked vulture is also known as the fighter command because of the grid patterns they fly at high altitude.
They help each other with their wonderful eyesight to find food.
When one of them spots food, it is usually located by the lappet vulture (bomber command) while flying at low level.
They are able to dive at 120kms an hour. Arriving from all directions at the carcass, they look like fighter aircraft in battle.
This remarkable species is similar but smaller than the Cape vulture.
They are able to soar up to 4,000m above sea level. For an aircraft to do that it needs a turbine engine or turbocharging. How this vulture achieves the ability is two-fold. They have on their chest two air sacks which inflate while they use air thermals to climb. Like a hot air balloon, this helps them to soar so high.
When they reach a high altitude, the air in the sacks has attained high pressure which they use to breathe.
They are also able to to change the haemoglobin in their blood to give them enough power to fly.
They are fairly vocal at kill sites, hissing and squealing. Once they have finished eating, they are too heavy to fly far. They loaf around carcasses for hours.
Their faeces is highly acidic – a rich white paste which it spreads around the death site, disinfecting and killing bacteria.
The bird is then light enough to fly away. This provides a vital link in nature’s cycle.
The whitebacked vulture builds nests high in acacia trees, while the Cape vulture prefers nesting in colonies on cliff faces.
Whitebacked vultures lay one egg, and incubation takes 56 to 58 days. Nestlings remain for up to 130 days, and the young are dependant on parents for food for four months after their first flight.
The bird’s Zulu name is iNqe.
