Vulturine Guineafowl

© Jacques Erard

© Peter Boesman

Birdfinding.info ⇒  Uncommon across much of its small range, but locally numerous in southern Ethiopia and central Kenya.  Areas where it can be found reliably include the plains of Oromia Province in Ethiopia, and Buffalo Springs and Samburu National Reserves and Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks in Kenya.

Vulturine Guineafowl

Acryllium vulturinum

Family: Numididae

East Africa: savannas, brushlands, and scrub, from central Ethiopia and Somaliland south to central Tanzania.

© BirdLife International 2016

Vulturine Guineafowl, usually encountered in flocks such as this one.  (Samburu National Reserve, Kenya; December 9, 2012.)  © Simon Carter

Identification

Unique: elegant and macabre, with a bare, skeletal-looking head and a cape of luxuriant black-and-white plumes over a luminous blue back and chest.

Vulturine Guineafowl.  (Ndara Ranch, Kenya; December 16, 2010.)  © Anabel & Geoff Harries

Vulturine Guineafowl.  (Tsavo West National Park, Kenya; August 20, 2015.)  © Johannes Kohl

Vulturine Guineafowl.  (Mpala Ranch and Research Centre, Kenya; August 17, 2006.)  © Brad Bergstrom

Vulturine Guineafowl.  (Buffalo Springs National Reserve, Kenya; October 25, 2017.)  © Mike Loomis

Vulturine Guineafowl.  (Tsavo East National Park, Kenya; December 24, 2016.)  © David Orth-Moore

Vulturine Guineafowl.  (Buffalo Springs National Reserve, Kenya; October 25, 2017.)  © Mike Loomis

Vulturine Guineafowl.  (Samburu National Reserve, Kenya; February 7, 2013.)  © Nancy Barrett

Vulturine Guineafowl.  (Tsavo East National Park, Kenya; February 5, 2012.)  © Marco Valentini

Peculiar and subtle plumage features include a dense fringe of chestnut feathers around the hindcrown and a purple web in the first primary.

Vulturine Guineafowl—note purple web on first primary.  (Buffalo Springs National Reserve, Kenya; August 10, 2008.)  © Michal Sloviak

Vulturine Guineafowl, close-up showing chestnut fringe on hindcrown.  (Buffalo Springs National Reserve, Kenya; August 19, 2015.)  © Nik Borrow

Vulturine Guineafowl.  (Shaba National Park, Kenya; October 31, 2019.)  © Susan Mac

Vulturine Guineafowl.  (Shaba National Park, Kenya; October 31, 2019.)  © Susan Mac

Vulturine Guineafowl, close-up showing chestnut fringe on hindcrown.  (Wachile-Mega Road, Oromia, Ethiopia; January 5, 2015.)  © Ian Davies

Vulturine Guineafowl.  (Samburu National Reserve, Kenya; September 4, 2008.)  © Francisco Ahedo Fernandez

Voice.  Typical call is a brittle, metallic rattle: Song is an accelerating trill, repeated at brief intervals, similar to typical call but higher-pitched, with a more musical tone:

Notes

Monotypic species.

References

BirdLife International. 2016. Acryllium vulturinum. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22679572A92819650. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22679572A92819650.en. (Accessed April 25, 2020.)

eBird. 2020. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed April 25, 2020.)

Madge, S., and P.J.K. McGowan. 2002. Pheasants, Partridges, and Grouse: A Guide to the Pheasants, Partridges, Quails, Grouse, Guineafowl, Buttonquails, and Sandgrouse of the World. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.

Martínez, I., and G.M. Kirwan. 2020. Vulturine Guineafowl (Acryllium vulturinum). In Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D.A. Christie, and E. de Juana, eds.). Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. https://www.hbw.com/node/53529. (Accessed April 25, 2020.)

Xeno-Canto. 2020. Vulturine Guineafowl – Acryllium vulturinum. https://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Numida-meleagris. (Accessed April 25, 2020.)